1 Corinthians 11:1
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
It was a beautiful spring day. Not a cloud in the sky, or a care in the world for the two young boys we took to the park with their Mom and Nana. As we had a lovely conversation about our lives, husbands and children, and of course what we were making for dinner that night-the boys-ran! We watched as they ran into the field and kicked a soccer ball for a few minutes. Then they ran to the gym set and slid down the slide a few times. Then it was off to the swings, the tire swing and finally the life-sized doll house where they ended their trek. A few minutes later my grandson came running out with his friend following him, and four more children were following behind them! The six of them followed the original course, but now there were six in tow. First the soccer field…kick a ball, then the gym set-they all slid down the slide. Off to the swings…each going as high as their little legs would allow. Next the tire swing, and finally the doll house. It ended there as six boys running and whooping into the doll house scared a couple toddler girls and they went running out to their Mamma’s! We sighed as their Mom’s held them close and we remembered those moments with our own.
I don’t know if my grandson or his friend said or did anything to start this ‘pied piper’ effect but whatever it was, it certainly was effective. When they were done with their running they all stopped at our table and I offered them ALL a snack, after I asked their Mom’s, of course!
We are at a time in our spiritual history when we all should be a draw, a ‘pied piper’ of sorts, to the one who has the answers. We should be the one who offers ‘spiritual food’ to everyone we come into contact with. We should be able to say; ‘follow me as I follow Christ.’ Why don’t we? We know that the Lord’s return is eminent! Let’s take a look as some excuses we use to not share the hope of Jesus with others.
Fear! We may think that the other person will shut us down, and nobody likes rejection. Yet, if we think about a friend of mine who kept putting off telling his friend about Jesus until one day he decided that was the day! As he approached his friends home, the E MT’s were taking him out on a stretcher. Massive heart attack. Too late! He vowed not to wait again! The sting of guilt was far worse than the fear of rejection.
We feel inadequate. If we think about it, we would not feel inadequate telling our friend a story about what happened to us that day, right? All we need to do is share one of the wonderful changes Jesus made in our lives with our friend. Allow Holy Spirit to do the rest. The wooing is His job, after all! If that still makes you anxious, write down a paragraph of your testimony. Go over it several times and become confident you can share it well. This is serious stuff…life or death, in fact.
Isn’t this an invasion of privacy? Actually, the enemy would like you to believe that sharing any vile ungodly philosophy is ‘freedom of speech’, but the Good News of the Gospel, well, that’s invading my privacy! Actually, if you are just sharing your own personal story about how your own life changed, it is YOUR freedom of speech! Don’t be intimidated by people who talk louder than you! Yours is a life giving message.
Sometimes we expect ‘someone else’ will do it. My friend, you-and I are the ‘someone else’! God placed the desire in our hearts to share good news with friends. We want them to celebrate too! Well, Jesus is the best news ever! I hope you will take the message of Jesus to everyone, everywhere. Then you will also begin to look like the ‘pied piper’ as people follow you-as you follow Christ! Let me know your with me!
Leave a Reply