People are not Christian because they say they are. Many, I’m afraid, will think to enter in, but shall not be able. Today, I met one of God’s children. (Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure I am surrounded with God’s children, but the evidence is not always conclusive. Today, it was.)
I officiated in the communion service, this morning. After church, a woman asked that I bring communion to her dying mother. The lady is not so old, perhaps in her mid seventies, but she is very sick with cancer. When I got to her, she would not, or could not so much as open her eyes for weakness. I went through the communion ceremony, abbreviated, and then asked what she thought of the way God led in her life.
With her eyes closed, no teeth in her mouth, an accent from the islands (Bahamas, I think) she began to recite the words of a familiar hymn. A hymn of praise. Then she expressed nothing by gratitude. God has been so good to her, she said. She thanked Him, over and over and over again. Do you see the picture? Here is a woman who came to EVI for treatment. Her hope was of recovery. She isn’t so old. She came with expectations, like everyone else, her mouth filled with prayer. But instead of realizing her hopes, she appears to be sinking. Is she disappointed? Discouraged, perhaps? I don’t know, because all she can say is thank you, thank you, thank you Jesus.
The greatest evidence of faith, that I can think of, is gratitude. Out of the heart the mouth speaks. I met someone today who knows Jesus. I can tell. She speaks the language of heaven.
Criticism, complaining, murnmuring, pessimism, discouragement, and all the negatives in the dictionary, when expressed, reveal only one thing. We haven’t come close enough to Jesus to experience the eternal reality He’s created for us. The temporal reality still occupies too much of our hearts. Dear ones, live by faith, not by sight.
So says the Preacher to his Tribe.
No comments:
Post a Comment