The
other day we went to the house of one of Pastor’s friend’s, Odd. Odd is a
Christian, but his mother and sister who were visiting were not. They are
Catholic. Odd had invited us over so that he and his sister could talk to us
about their business plan, which has to do with mangosteens. They want to start
exporting mangosteens, making more things like cereal bars and alcoholic drinks
be flavored like mangosteens, and use the mangosteens to make face wash as
well. Anyways… so we talked about their business plan for about an hour and a
half and then Odd’s sister asked us why we had come on the World Race. Lindsey
started to explain to her why she had come on the race, but when Lindsey had
finished, my Spirit was jumping like crazy so I started to share with Bee
(Odd’s sister) about why I came on the race, and who Jesus is to me. That is
when we found out she was Catholic. She explained to us how she prays to Mary
and she believes in Jesus but she feels like Mary knows her better, and so she
finds it easier to talk to Mary than Jesus.
I
have a hard time understanding this. When I used to go to Catholic Church, that
is one thing I never understood is why we said the “Hail Mary”. Yes Mary literally carried God in her,
but at the end of the day she was just another human being like the rest of us.
Mary didn’t save the world from their sins. She sinned just like all of us do.
And she died just like all other humans. Jesus is the one who died for us and
is still alive. He is the only one! So while I understand being respectful of
Mary, praying to her doesn’t do any good, because if heaven is as awesome as I
know it is, she isn’t listening to what anyone on earth is saying. She is too
busy worshipping God and enjoying the massive party going on in heaven. Jesus
on the other hand is God. He is the one who knows us and loves us and listens
to us.
It just makes me sad for people
like Bee who seem so close to the truth but still don’t see it. For them, it is
still just a religion. And one of the main things I have learned this year is
that walking with Christ is anything but a religion. There are no rules, you
don’t have to do anything. It’s all just about having a relationship with
Christ, just like you would with anybody around here that you can see, except
that He is ALWAYS there. I talk to him, He talks to me, and it does bring total
freedom. There is no checklist of things I have to do be a good person or to
spend eternity with Him. And the closer I get to Him, the more freedom there
is. It’s awesome!!
