I stood in front of the small congregation in the little village church talking about the life and death of a man I have never met. All the way in a small jungle village of Damcherra, India, a man who was completely radical for Jesus, changed the lives of an entire community and impacted the whole country of India. My feet stumble as I walk around the campus of King of King’s School, which he helped start, and hear the children shouting their praises for Jesus. Literally shouting worship songs. Their little faces hold so much passion and they weep out their prayers. The church that holds the small congregation has a big impact on this village. You can see how much these people are genuine in their faith. They love the Lord with all their hearts and they love each other. All of this wouldn’t be here without the faithfulness of a man named Dr. Rochunga Pudaite. This man lived a life completely chasing after Jesus and in doing so, he changed the lives of thousands of people. Wow.
So I’m standing in front of this congregation talking about a man I never met, but in the short time I have been in India, I have felt his legacy. A legacy that follows Jesus wherever He leads and that gives a life completely over to the One who knows best. All I could give to this congregation were words of encouragment that the Holy Spirit had given to me minutes before I was supposed to speak. While I am encouraging this community, I realized they don’t necessarily need encouragement because they have seen firsthand the power of a person being radical for Jesus. In that moment, I needed encouragement.
I started to think about my legacy and wonder if I am living a life that is completely radical for Jesus. While I am on the race, am I taking the opportunity to live way Jesus wants me to in the fullest or am I letting opportunties pass by? Up until that moment standing in front of the church, I realized how much of the race I just let pass by me. I didn’t take opportunties to seek after the little moments in which I can be completely radical for Jesus. Totally not cool. I don’t want to get to the end of this World Race and say, “Oh I could have done so much more, but I wasn’t bold enough for Jesus.” That would be a race wasted.
So here I am now. Knowing that my race will be radical for Jesus because I am choosing IN. I won’t be sitting on the sidelines, watching my teammates be bold while I am too scared to share my faith. I am BOLD. I am anoited by Jesus for a radical life. So guess what?! God is taking my race back and we are going to be crazy together. Watch out world, a new Melissa has risen in the name of Jesus and I’m not holding anything back!
My encouragement to you reading this is to let God take your life back. Get up off the couch and go be radical. You have the power in Jesus’s name to change the live’s of others and the world. Don’t let life pass you by. Live it to the fullest. Be BOLD. Be BRAVE. Be RADICAL. What will be your legacy?
