If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.
March was Missions Month at my kids’ school. I went to their assembly that was the culmination of the month’s ideas. There, the total missions experience was boiled down to three displays and a few words from three teachers. A reminder that God is busy everywhere doing acts of love through the hands of people.
I’ve been involved in missions and can show my kids the pictures of my work in different places. They can see my face and the smiles on the children around me as proof that God was at work.
Genuine love expressed to God-seekers of all ages has impacted many communities through the actions of missions workers. I’ve seen changed lives. I’ve seen people whose hearts flip-flopped over the awesome presence of God. When people want God to show up and He does eternal things, joy abounds.
I want my kids to know that you can spread God’s love where we live. We don’t have to get on a plane to find people in need.
The kids’ school assembly reminded me that I once drove a church van full of the high school youth group to their Christmas party, but stopped along the way at a homeless shelter. We sang Christmas carols with the homeless children and played with them for a while before driving on to our destination. The youth group experienced an opportunity to share God’s love with those who needed a little attention. They put others before themselves and enjoyed giving their gift.
Anyone can do that. Anyone can spend time loving someone else with the pure love of Christ.
You don’t have to be wealthy to give. You don’t have to spend a lot of travel time. You don’t need a certification, license or degree. There’s no for excuse for not participating in a local ministry when a high school group can agree to stop by a homeless shelter on the way to their Christmas party.
That day, I looked at my youth group and saw how their gift affected them. I think it affected me too.
Aren’t you curious about how giving your simple gifts could affect you?
No comments:
Post a Comment