If you were dating someone that confessed their love for you, but wouldn’t take you to dinner because it cost too much, would you question their sincerity? Or, if someone confessed their love and couldn’t find time to fit you into their busy schedule, what would you think about the depth of their love?
How often do we treat Jesus like He’s our partner in a rather dysfunctional relationship? Always confessing our desire to love and be like Him, while also tallying up the cost and time that we commit to Him. How many times have you thought, “well, Lord I went to church today and spent a few hours listening to someone talk about how great You are, so I did my duty and I think I’m good for the week… my life’s pretty good so I’ll see ya next Sunday”. I’ve been guilty of having this train of thought on a few occasions.
Think about it in the context of relationships. Isn’t it annoying when someone is spending time with you or asking questions and you can tell that their heart isn’t present? I would much rather spend an entire day by myself than in the company of someone that wishes they were elsewhere. I wonder how often God would rather us stay home from church, than see us plaster on a smile and go worship Him out of obligation. If we can see through the insincerity of others in earthly relationships, then how much more can God see into the depths of our hearts? Why do we think that we can fool God when our heart just isn’t in it?
Imagine that you go to a really nice restaurant buffet with a friend. Unfortunately, it is almost closing time and there is a sudden swarm of hungry customers. The cooks have informed you that they won’t be cooking any more food since it’s close to closing time, and your friend, not knowing that there is a crowd, is dilly dallying in the restroom while you scrounge to fill up your plate with the most desirable items on the buffet. When your friend returns, he or she disovers that there isn’t any food left. Neither of you have eaten all day and are both extremely hungry. Your friend is a really picky eater; the only thing he or she likes is the prime rib on your plate, which is also your favorite. So, you’re faced with a choice, do you let your friend have the prime rib, while you eat the other things on your plate, or do you let him or her go hungry? The answer to this question depends on the depth of the love that you have for your friend. If it’s a fair-weathered friend then you might not really care that much if they’re hungry for a few more hours, but if it’s your best friend then you would give them the prime rib because their friendship is really important to you.
In the same sense, we often want to keep the things that we view as the “prime rib” of our life for ourselves. I sometimes find myself clinging to certain things in my life and then serving God the left-overs, rather than giving Him everything and letting my love for Him guide my decisions. What would the world look like if we were so in love with Jesus that merely fitting Him into our schedule and serving Him left-overs, rather than planning our lives according to Him, was the same concept to us as letting our best friend go hungry? Have you ever prayed for God to break your heart for what breaks His? That’s a dangerous prayer to pray.
What if we began to view our finances as blessings straight from the Lord and see having excess as a responsibility for us to help others? What if we began to truly live like we won’t be able to take anything earthly with us to heaven and “settle” for the smaller house even though we could afford something larger, and use the rest of our income for something that instills in people a love that will last? What if we truly fed the people that are hungry, clothed the people that are naked, and helped build houses for the people that live in shacks?
I fear that most people believe that all people in poverty have a choice. I do understand that there are some people that live off the government because they have no desire to work. But, there’s a difference when there are people in the world that literally have no options for a source of income because there just aren’t any jobs in their poverty stricken countries.
Some of you might be thinking that I’ve gone off my rocker because I truly believe that making a change is possible; most people also thought that when I decided to go on the World Race, but God faithfully provided everything that I needed to do what He asked of me!
In Haiti, my heart broke as I held the hand of a sweet child named Clinton whose mother abandoned him. I wondered how someone could not care that they were leaving a three year old to face the world alone; no one to feed him, no one to tuck him in at night and calm his fears after a nightmare, no one to rock him to sleep when he is sick, no one to teach him how to brush his teeth, no one to love him. Isn’t this the same thing that we do to people that we are capable of helping, but choose not to?
Aren’t there things in your life that you couldn’t have faced without the support and guidance of someone that truly loved you? How hard it is for us to adjust our perspective from ourselves to others that face life or death struggles daily. So, my question is, where is the love? We have to set our love for Christ into action and begin to take on the burden of caring for our brothers and sisters. That is the only way the world will change. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but it’s true.
