I love books. All books. But some of my favorite books are historical fiction, that’s weird I know. But I’ve always enjoyed reading a made up story that takes place in a real situation. It makes you look at that situation from a different point of view and it makes it real. It really happened, and someone lived a life that could have been very similar to this.
Today I began reading a book that takes place during World War II. I’ve read a lot of books from this time period as I’m sure many people have; it’s a popular topic in the world of writing historical fiction novels. But this time as I was reading I began to think of all the different lives that were involved. Lives of innocent people from every part of the world. People were put through anguish. Forced to travel in cattle cars just to arrive at death camps. Men and women lost their lives at Pearl Harbor. Innocent people were placed in internment camps out of fear. Lives were destroyed all over the world. And I just got angry. What was it for? Greed. The belief that one race had superiority over another.
The sad part, it still happens.
The nation of Rwanda was destroyed because of a feud over which people were more superior. It left millions of people dead in it’s wake. Today ISIS blatantly murders children just to make a point and we retaliate by murdering more.
Sin is wreaking havoc on our world, and it makes me angry.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And God said it is good.
Then sin entered our world.
And since then we’ve grown cold and hateful and come to resent one another. We are filled with pride, and greed, and selfishness. We care only for ourselves, our kind, and do what we can to squash those beneath us. And it happens everywhere.
When does it stop? How does it stop?
The only way to rid the world of sin and its cruelty is to overshadow it with the love of Christ. Darkness is the absence of light, so doesn’t it make sense that light would be the absence of darkness? Jesus calls us to walk as children of light and to let our lights so shine that men will see our good works and glorify the Father which is in heaven.
I can no longer sit back comfortably, having my own world be lit by the love of Jesus and watch the rest of the world crumble. I’m not naive to think that I can travel the world and completely rid it of sin and darkness and lead every person I meet to the Lord. But I do know that every person I meet will hear the name of Jesus, maybe for the first time in their lives, and they will never, ever forget they heard it. It will start a spark. And one spark at a time a fire will begin and that fire will become a blaze, and that blaze will eventually be bright enough to be seen everywhere. I may never see it. It might take longer than my lifetime to start, but I will be a part of making it happen.
I hope that you will be too. I challenge you to ask God what you can do. It might be inviting the grumpy neighbor down the street to church. It might be telling the homeless man that sits outside of your workplace that you’re praying for him. It might be going door to door to witness to strangers about Jesus and what He has done for you. Step out of your comfort zone. If you can’t yet, that’s ok. It’s hard. But help me step out of mine. Please give, so that I can step out into the darkness of the world and spread the light, the comfort, joy and love of Jesus Christ to a hurt and broken world.
It’s time we begin to view ourselves as equals. We were all created in the image of God. We all have eyes and ears and arms and the same organs and the same hearts. We each have traits that make us individuals but certainly don’t make us any better at being human. Jesus makes us better. So let’s share Him with the world.
