“The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways, and the good rewarded for theirs.”
~Proverbs 14:14

School was finally out for the day. It had been a long day full of nagging teachers, slamming lockers, stressful quizzes and horrible, tasteless cafeteria food. Mary was glad to be out of that living nightmare, although home wasn’t much better. There was always so much yelling between her parents and two younger brothers; it felt like there was never an escape. Ever since Mary and her family had moved from New York City to dull Wyoming, it just felt like her life was spiraling out of control. She hated the boredom and calm of Wyoming; nothing ever happened. Where was the excitement of New York? Where were the bright lights? Where were the speeding cars? She also missed her friends more than anything in the world. She wondered if they had gotten someone to take her place in their school group. The only way she could keep in touch with them was through the computer, as she was not allowed to make long distance calls. She looked forward to chatting with them all day; it was the only joy she could find in her dull pathetic life.
She pushed open the front door to her house, only to be greeted by screaming and a loud crash coming from the kitchen. Her family was not taking well to the move either and the only reason they stayed was for the sake of their father’s job. Mary wished he would just get a new job every night. She sighed and walked up the stairs to her room where she slammed the door to block out the yells. Mary threw down her bag and sat down hard at the computer. She logged on hurriedly and smiled as she saw her friends crazy display pictures. They had put pictures of the four of them laughing at the Apple Store and had written ‘We Miss You Mary’ as their message. She read each of their pages longingly, missing them more and more with each click. Then, she noticed something she never had before.
See, she had this paranoia about her friends moving on and forgetting about her; possibly getting someone else to take her place. The day the place for her in their hearts was refilled would be the day she died, pure and simple. She checked their friend lists every day, holding her breath, waiting to see if their friend counter had moved higher, breathing a sigh of relief every time she saw the same familiar number. It was her comfort zone in her chaotic, confusing excuse for a life. Today though, when she was looking over her friend, Elizabeth’s, page, she noticed her friend count had gone up a number. Mary was struck with horror, stomach dropping, heart flipping, head frozen, unable to do anything but stare. When her brain finally snapped back to earth, the panic sunk in. She was almost too afraid to look at who this new addition might be. With trembling hands, she slowly moved the mouse and, taking a slow, deep breath, clicked the friends list.
She frantically scanned the list, searching for new faces and, finally, found the cause of her near-heart attack. But…surprisingly, it was not at all what she expected. No smiling new girl hanging with Mary’s friends adorned their display picture. Instead, it was a man with long brown, wavy hair, a peaceful smile lighting his face, whose whole figure seemed to glow with purity and holiness. It was a man whom Mary had seen many, many times in Sunday school and in books. The man was Jesus.
Mary breathed again, but her blind fear was replaced with pure curiosity. Who would be so disrespectful as to make Jesus a myspace, pretending to be him? I mean, it couldn’t really be him…could it? But, for some reason, she just couldn’t force herself to look away. There was something pulling at the back of her mind and heart, urging her to look at the page. Suddenly, a chill ran up and down her spine and she became very self-conscious. She looked left and right, looking for signs of another living soul. She saw no one though and laughed out loud in spite of herself. What was there to be afraid of? With a burst of courage, she clicked the link and opened the site.
She was greeted with a gospel song playing soft and slow. The layout was a beautiful image of the heavens. Everything about it was wholesome and good. Then, she scrolled down to the friends list. People had left comments that struck Mary as so disrespectful that she was shocked. They had made rude requests and treated Jesus’ name as if it were dirt and he was just your average, everyday guy. Even if the maker of the space was a fake, it was still completely uncalled for of all those people to say what they did. It was horrible and Mary was filled with a burning rage. But, there were still comments that were appropriate and made her feel sad, yet happy at the same time. Those comments were respectful and gave thanks for being their Lord and Savior and asking to help out those in need. They were so sweet and loving, it made Mary want to just keep reading and never stop.
She read through all the comments, saw so much sadness and pain, so much desperation to be saved and loved. She saw much appreciation as well, thanking Jesus for everything he had done for them and their loved ones. Did these people actually believe this was Jesus? The REAL Jesus? What did she really believe? I mean, Jesus had better things to do than make and update a myspace…right? But then again…it would be an excellent way to reach out to the people of the world, so many of them had spaces and could easily send their prayers and requests to him in that way as well. Anything was possible with Jesus; he could really have created it. What if it really was Him? How would He take it if Mary doubted him and didn’t add him as a friend? But then, what if it wasn’t Him? Would He be angered that Mary had fallen for the tricks of an imposter? She couldn’t decide what to think or do.
She sat, not wanting to leave the page, but unsure of what else to do. Something inside of her wouldn’t let go though and her head was spinning. She did the only other thing she could think of; she prayed to God to help her make the right decision. She closed her eyes and the familiar calm of being close to God washed over her. When she opened her eyes, she looked back up at the space, not sure what to expect. Whatever it was though hadn’t come. Frustrated, she scrolled up the page past all the comments, letting the words and pictures blur together. When she reached the top, she saw all the blogs. They all seemed wholesome and Mary decided that even if this wasn’t really him, they sure were good at seeming pure. One blog in particular caught her eye though. It was entitled ‘Everything Will Turn Out Alright If You Just Trust in Me’. Curiosity overcame her once again and she clicked. She read the blog once…then again…and then again, with big disbelieving eyes. She silently closed the blog and moved her mouse to the Add Friend button and, without hesitation, added Him. With that, her mom called her down to help with the chores and she willingly did as she was told, feeling calmed and replenished. Everything would be alright, she had found Jesus, the best friend anyone could ever have.


~10 Years Later~

Mary ended up as happy as a person could be. A group of girls invited her to sit with them at lunch the next day and, over the years, they all became inseparable. She graduated from college with honors, found a loving husband and they had two beautiful children. Her family also found aspects about their new town that they became involved in and most of their angers and arguments were resolved. Everything was good.
Ironically enough, a study was done of myspace and the examiners found that none of the people who had been murdered or worse from the site had Jesus as a friend. Could it just be a coincidence? Or could it really be the work and protection of Jesus Christ? What do YOU believe?