This past week has been one
where I questioned lots of fundamental things that we are passionate
about. I’ve been blessed with more than
20 years of marriage to a great woman, and her parents as well as my parents
have each been married over 53 years.
That is a miracle. Another thing
that I have spent a considerable amount of time is thinking about life and how
precious life is from conception to dead.
What is really important is
not a law or an institution or material possessions. People are important to God and should be the
most important thing in and around our lives.
Ministry is the same. We cannot
allow our focus to be taken off of people and put on any thing else.
Jesus spoke the following
words when He was talking about important things that people did:
Matthew
24:34-36 NLT
Then the King
will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father,
inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For
I was hungry, and you fed me. I was
thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was
a stranger, and you invited me into your home.
36 I was naked, and
you gave me clothing. I was sick, and
you cared for me. I was in prison, and
you visited me.’
Those
acts of kindness were all, each and every one, directed toward and helping
people. So the question is this: are our
effects, our passion and our resources focusing on helping people or on things? Answer the question. After you answer the question begin to look
around. I mean really look at what you
are doing with all you have.
This
week has lots of opportunities for me and the ministry I’m blessed to
lead. We will spend several hours
working on the issue of homelessness in our community. It is our prayer that we will be able to help
those who don’t have adequate housing in our community. We will spend much time on feeding people or
sharing food. Our prayer is that we will
be able to feed more hungry people.
Yet in
the middle of those things is pain.
There are many, many hurting people.
One hurting person is one too many, and God has called us to focus our
resources on hurting people. By the way
and as always, the reason we meet needs is to talk about Jesus. Focusing on loving and serving people wins us
the right to share Jesus.
James 1:27 NLT
Pure and
genuine religion in the sight of
God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and
refusing to let the world corrupt you.
May
our focus be on people. When hurting
people learn how God loves them, the pain changes, and by the way I have been
one of those hurting people. I bet you
have as well.
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