Have you ever had a computer, or a car, or a cell phone breakdown? Or maybe a shower when there was no more hot water left? Isn’t it amazing how much we take those things for granted? And isn’t it sad how angry we can get when things breaks down and suddenly we feel like our life is miserable?
Now imagine living without electricity or running water every day? That’s what life is like for people in the mountains of Los Montacitos, Dominican Republic. It’s a peaceful little town that reminds me of an old western movie, where you roll into town and everyone greets you with a smile and a hello.
And even though there’s no public transportation, it was cool to see how people share the few vehicles they have so that everyone can transport their chickens, fruit, coffee beans, green beans, etc. It was really cool to see since a lot of Americans nowadays are so selfish with “their” things that you rarely see people share with one another, especially when it comes to personal space. On one trip there must have been about 30 people piled up in one truck and no one even cared about being so close to each other.
As we started doing house-to-house evangelism, we were amazed at how welcoming people were. They greeted us and provided us with chairs, offered us juice or coffee (we always chose coffee because they make the best coffee in the entire Dominican Republic), and they even offered us what little food they had. It was awesome to see how selfless everyone was because that’s not something you always see back home.
After they served us we got to talk with them about their family and when they came to know the Lord. Then after we prayed with them and thanked them for everything, we were amazed at how grateful they were just to have us spend a little bit of time with them. It was mind-blowing to see how these people could take time out of their busy day and share what little they had with us and yet still be so thankful just to be of service to us.
Sadly, I think a lot of Americans have lost that sense of service to others. It seems as though people have somehow forgotten that America was founded on community and service to one another. After all, if it hadn’t been for the Native Americans who helped out the early European settlers, they would’ve starved to death. And not only that, but those early settlers had to work together just to continue surviving year after year.
And if our Founding Fathers hadn’t worked together and made great sacrifices for the greater good, the United States of America wouldn’t even have been born, much less survive for over 200 years. But somewhere along the way, some people seem to have lost their sense of service to each other. And even worse, many seem to have forgotten Christ’s call to serve, which we see so clearly in Matthew 23:11. Christmas seems to have become the only time that people really serve or give these days. But when we really think about it, the Christmas story is only meant to be the beginning, not the end.
So today I encourage you to do some serious reflection and join me in asking: “Am I truly serving God, or my own desires?” “What am I holding back?” “In what ways am I still not letting Jesus be Lord of my whole life?”
I pray that you open up your heart to Christ and allow him to break whatever chains might be holding you down because he died to set you free.
Grace and peace,
Brett
