An Instagram comment changed Julian Edelman’s life forever.
The New England Patriots wide receiver, Julian Edelman’s spoke about a threat comment that was left in one of his Instagram photos.
“I’m going to shoot my school up watch the news.” That was the comment left on Julian’s March 25 photo of himself and former teammate Danny Amendola. Julian was alerted about this comment when another user sent him a direct message. “Dude, there is a kid in your comment section says he’s going to shoot up a school, I think you should alert the authority.”
Julian informed his assistant, who notified the Boston police and ultimately notified the Michigan police where this individual was located. He was arrested and charged with making a false report of a threat of terrorism. It’s a felony and the punishment is up to 20 years in prison.
Julian, who previously told The New York Times that he’s trying to contact the user to send him a care package, reiterated his appreciation for the direct message sender on “Good Morning America.”
“I just want to say thank you for being the awesome human being that you are,” Julian said. “Keep on going over all the comments. You’re like the comment police, bro. We appreciate you.”
The greatest power we have in our lives are our choices. As Christians, this should always involve choosing to do the right thing. The Instagram user did the right thing by alerting Julian via an Instagram direct message; Julian did the right thing by telling his assistant (who notified the police). In the times we are living in, we cannot ignore these types of comments. In any discussions about doing the right thing, we must also bring the word “love” into the conversation. This is because God’s love for us and our love for Him compels us to want to do good as well.
Acts 10:38 reads “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”
In the end, Jesus is our ultimate example of always doing the right thing. He lived His life to obey the Father in every way, and He was always doing well everywhere He went. I encourage everyone to we seek to do the right thing in every circumstance.
