How we live our lives as children of God should be the light that draws others to Him.
“Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14 NIV
We live in the East TN and bugs are a part of the blessing of living here. It has been unseasonably warm this Fall and as the time change happened, porch lights come on earlier and the subsequent “quick close the door before the moths get in” comments ring out.
I wonder if too much of today’s Church has become a “quick close the doors before the non-conforming, dirty, broken, hopeless” get in. Are we pursuing a sanitized faith that says ‘blessed are the blessed and those who can be a blessing to me.’ Inward living seldom leads to outward giving,
I have commented to many great Pastor and Church-leader friends that a litmus test for organizational self-examination should include an honest assessment of “if Jesus were on Earth today, would he visit our churches and Christian organizations that proclaim his name?”
I am not writing this to be judgmental of you in any way. The truth is that I write what the One compels me to write. As we enter the most beautiful season that starts with Thanksgiving and flows into the celebration of the birth of Life Eternal, I write to myself to encourage me to love every person placed in my path the way Jesus loved and loves a sinful man (me) in ways too marvelous to understand.
“Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:34-40 NIV
So I encourage you to guard your heart and free your mind. To consider the immeasurable gift that Jesus freely gives to any who ask; eternal life. To recognize that every person has a story and the dirty, broken, addicted, desperate person you may see on the way to your beautiful church this morning is God’s daughter or son, equally loved and equally valued. Worthy of your love and care.
Commit to be a light that is a lighthouse and not a guard house. The light that is your life is the hope that so many desperately need.
You’ve got this.