Friday, February 22, 2008

Big hand


There was a televised interview with Jane Roe – of the famous Roe-v-Wade abortion case. During the interview, she shared that she had become a believer in Jesus Christ. As she told her story, you could hear how her heart had been softened and she’d become a warm, caring, loving individual.

It dawned on me that one person who showed love and attention and shared the Good News with her – one loving relationship – in Jane Roe’s life did what all the protests in the world had failed to do and that was to change her mind.

You don’t change people by protests. You change them by love. Society is changed one life at a time. God has put specific people in your life that he expects you to share the Good News with. You’re the only Christian some people know.

If you don’t share the Good News, who will?

God will hold us responsible for the lives of the people he has put in our path to tell the Good News. Not just family, friends, and relatives, but all the people we come into contact with.

That might scare some of you. "The Holy Sprit doesn’t want you to be afraid of people but to be wise and strong and to love them and enjoy being with them. If you will stir up this inner power, you will never be afraid to tell others about our Lord.” That Living Bible paraphrase says the antidote to fear is love. The reason we don’t share the Good News is that we don’t love people enough to want to get them into Heaven. If they loved them enough, they'd want to tell them the Good News.

If my kid were in a burning building, I wouldn’t care how big the flames were – I'd go in after her. I wouldn’t care if I got hurt. I wouldn’t care if other people said I was crazy. I'd still go in! I’d grab my child and bring him out. I may be singed and burned. Then people would say, "You were brave!” No, I wasn’t brave or courageous or crazy. I was motivated by love.