Praise the Lord for
this beautiful new day, with which the Lord has blessed us. I awoke early
this morning to the sounds of the morning birds, including the morning doves,
and gazed out toward the eastern skies, dazzling with the dawning of the new
day. We will be gathering this evening at 6:00 PM for our Wednesday
supper followed by Bible study. Alice and I went out for an evening
stroll yesterday, meeting and greeting people along the way. I stopped to
talk with a man who was crossing the parking lot of our local park. He
and his family have parked their motor home there. He and his wife live
in Kentucky, and have come to NY to care for their son, who is in ill
health. Although he is 71, he and his wife have adopted a 7 year old boy
out of Foster care. He spoke of him with much gratitude, that he was able
to make a difference in the life of at least one child. Though they have
their own children and grandchildren, their made room in their hearts and their
home for another child. For me it was heartwarming and
thought-provoking.
In his book, The Gospel According to Jesus, Chris Seay mentions a profound lesson he learned from his father about how to love people. He writes, “Growing up, we didn't have a lot of money, so we used to get outfield deck seats (aka ‘the cheap seats’) to see the baseball games at the [Houston] Astrodome. Most of the people buying the cheap seats did so to save more money for beer. After the first few innings, they were drunk, and by the time the seventh-inning stretch rolled around, there would be beer mixed with peanut shells on the floor, spilled beer down your back, and a brawl two rows over and back to the left. It was ugly out there. As a kid, I learned from a lot people that we were sitting with the ‘bad people.’ There was one consistent drunk fan named Batty Bob. He was a self-proclaimed Houston Astros mascot. He'd come to all the games wearing a rainbow wig, and he'd lead slurred cheers in the stands. I remember one time my dad went out to sit and talk with Batty Bob. He spent the whole game with Bob, then walked him out to the parking lot to bring him home with us. I was more than confused, because this guy was one of the ‘bad people.’ When we got home, my dad came to me and explained how God loved Batty Bob. I remember thinking, Really? Batty Bob? And he stayed with us for a few days to get back on his feet. This is when I started to realize that God did not despise these people; he dearly loved them.”
The message of Christianity is Jesus loves us so much that He welcomes us into His household of faith. We who were once far away from the Kingdom, have been welcomed in to become members of His family. The Good News of the Kingdom is that not only can we can be saved, but we can be transformed. We do not have to be a slave to our desires and weaknesses. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we can be made new. We are not just forgiven people, we are transformed people who are being made into the image of Christ. We are not perfect people, but we are growing in our ability to understand the kind of life he wants us to live and the ability to live it, and we cannot only be transformed, we can be used by God for his purposes — and that’s exciting.
In Jesus our
Lord.
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