Being sick on Thanksgiving break wasn't entirely fun, but it didn't change what all I have to be thankful for. It did, however, make for a funny moment. I'll admit, I get a little on the whiney side when I'm sick. Yellow car boy of course tended to my every need. I was doing a little reading in my state of grogginess. I realize I am straining and holding my neck up awkwardly to see. Yellow car boy hands me a cup of hot tea when I see a blur of my glasses. "Ah!" I delighted. "There are my glasses. I didn't know they were there." Yellow car boy responds, "You were blind all this time and didn't even have to be."
My head flooded with thoughts. In that moment I was very thankful for my eye sight, glasses, and a husband who had placed them there for me. I then thought about an all too familiar song. You know it- Amazing Grace. You know the line, "...was blind but now I see..." I then thought about something I had heard on the radio earlier this week, "God did not command lost people to go to church, but He told us, the church, to go to lost people." Ok, I think I've connected all the dots to my final thought. Christian, have you ever found yourself getting frustrated at someone lost in sin? I'll admit that I have. It's important to remember that that person is blind. Just like when I was straining to read and causing myself discomfort, that person may feel the pain but is unaware of a solution or chooses to do nothing about it. I knew my glasses were somewhere, but in my state of not feeling well, I chose to remain planted. I was also unaware they were right there beside me. There are lost people in both situations. You have the lost person who knows about Jesus Christ, but this person chooses not to act. People often think they'll get right with Christ later, that He can't fix their problems, or for many other reasons. They've heard the Gospel, but they reject it. Maybe they've been hurt by a Christian. Maybe they've had a bad church experience. Maybe they are mad at God. Who knows? What I do know is that it is not our place to judge that person. We have no idea where they are coming from. We have no idea what hurt they have been through. My throwing a stone or shoving doctrine down their throat will not get them any closer to Jesus Christ than they were before I gave it an honest try. Most people in situations like this need a relationship with you, so they will trust you. "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care". Jesus had a reputation. People knew Him. People came to Him. We should model our lives, relationships, and ministry after that of Christ. God gives us wisdom and discernment, and if He leads you to share to a total stranger while walking down the street, of course you should! Sometimes thought I fear we get caught up in promoting things other than salvation, and whatever it takes to get a person to salvation, shouldn't we be willing? (I'm talking to myself here.) Then you have the lost person who is completely unaware of the Savior. The growing statistics of people who have never even heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ are unreal. We often think of missions being in another country, which is of course true, but friends we have a mission field right here in front of us. I've read and listened to the descending number of people who profess Christianity. As the number gets lower, so does the spreading of the Gospel- yes here, even here, in the United States. What a freedom we have to worship and share as we desire. Let us not take that for granted. Let us also be sensitive to those who have never heard the Good News. I forget how wonderful it is to live in the Bible belt. Even not growing up in a Christian home, I knew a little about Jesus. I'm pretty sure at one point He even got talked about in school. We must share the love of Jesus and be thankful for the opportunities we have. How do you share the Gospel? That's the beauty. There is no one cookie cutter way. Some pass out tracks. Some fix an elderly lady's roof. Some donate. Some knock on doors. Some send letters. Some volunteer. And the list goes on. I think it is vitally important that we share the Word of God and the testimony of Christ, but I also think it important to build relationships. People need to know we care. People need to know we are different, and in a good way! Please be set apart. God told us we would be peculiar. Be peculiar, but don't be unapproachable. People won't listen when they feel judged. Don't be conformed to the world. If people see you living the same life they're living, then they're going to wonder why they need Jesus. Don't be conditional. Everyone needs Jesus. The rich, the poor, the stinky, the mean, the weak, and the stubborn. Seek God. Stay in His Word. He will lead guide, and direct you in those crucial moments of planting, watering, and maybe even helping to grow a seed. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. ~1 Corinthians 3:15 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast. ~Ephesians 2:8-9 Remember, it's all about Jesus and getting people to Him. We, ourselves, are nothing. Jesus Christ, though, He is everything. When you catch yourself getting frustrated at someone's sin. Remember to be frustrated at the sin and not the person because you were once blind too.
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