L.P.A. This afternoon my husband made himself a sandwich to eat. I watched him wolf down that simple tomato and cheese sandwich as if it had been prepared by angels. It was a fascinating sight. Each crunch, each swallow, each sigh of contentment demonstrated his deep satisfaction with what he was eating. As it so happened, I was not the only witness to this mouth watering (and I mean that in the most literal sense) display of culinary delight. The younger of my two sons was watching. Please bear with me as I explain why of my two sons, it was better that it was this one who was watching. Both my sons LOVE to eat as evidenced by their rotund physiques. However, the first is more often than not, willing to try something new. He doesnt need much convincing. The second? Every new type of food is immediately dismissed with a firm shake of his head, followed by an emphatic no. It is as if he was born with a radar. There is no amount of convincing, or cajoling that can force him to change his mind. He must get there by himself. You cannot know how many times I have shaken my head in wonder at how resolutely and repeatedly he has refused to even try some of these things, while his older brother would loot and plunder the treasures of newly discovered delectables with joyous and uncontested abandon. None for the younger ultimately meant more for the older. Joy! But one day, I noticed something about the little one. Even though he would not so much as touch the stuff, he would watch whoever was eating it with near unblinking concentration. I used to wonder about this until it dawned on me what he was doing. You see, our many beautiful words of praise for whatever thing it was we were trying to convince him about would remain just that - words. The only way to get him to even CONSIDER considering the unknown was by DEMONSTRATING to him how good this unknown thing truly was. To this end, he would watch your reaction to that food from first bite to mastication, to ingestion. He would measure how quickly you took another bite. Or if instead you reached for a quick gulp of water to relieve you of the watery eye syndrome- the unmistakable and often damning evidence of too much pepper. We discovered that no amount of play acting or stage craft would do the trick. He could tell when we were truly enjoying something and when we were putting on a show for his benefit. As I watched him watch his father eat that sandwich, it occurred to me how similar the life of a Christian is meant to be. The reason we are so unsuccessful in drawing people to Jesus many times is that we spend FAR more time trying to convince people about Him. I have come to understand now that it is infinitely better to demonstrate His effect in our own lives instead. The salvation of souls never was nor will ever be the job of men. It is Jesus and He ALONE that saves. Our role in the salvation story is to point to Him with our lives. People need to see through us how good He really is. Many, though scornful, will be watching very closely - every day. For them, it is the life behind the words that will be the real determinant as to whether to try Jesus or not. The consequence of what they decide after this, will ultimately be theirs to face. The fact that a person does or does not believe in the truth that Jesus is Who He says He is - the Son of God - is relevant only in determining the course that the life of that individual (on earth and after) will take. That is the extent to its relevance. It will never diminish or increase His Godship because He is exactly Who He says is. In my analogy above, it was the look on his fathers face that compelled my son to ask him what He was eating. To which he responded a sandwich with a big smile, while stretching it out to me to take a bite. Did my son eat that sandwich? No, he did not. Would his father stop eating sandwiches because of this? Most decidedly not. It occurred to me that contrary to appearances, the events of this day had served their purpose. There was now one more crack in his armour. His defenses had been weakened. He had registered the unrehearsed look of satiation on his fathers face . And so I knew that the next time he saw a sandwich, he would think twice before saying no. And when that day came, I would be there with a freshly prepared sandwich. Waiting. What is the moral? You must first enjoy Jesus. You cannot pretend your way through it. If you try to do so, the truth will emerge sooner or later. You must spend time with Him until you are unwavering in your certainty that He is everything He says He is. This is the first and most important step for the believer. As you begin to enjoy the life that He purchased for you at such a high cost to His person, people will be drawn to you. Step two - do not be afraid or ashamed to respond about Jesus. Just like the fathers answer to the boys question in the analogy above - its a sandwich, be ready always to answer its Jesus!. The third step is to be willing to share Him. His goodness to you. His patience with you. His unending capacity to forgive and forgive and forgive. Jesus is too big to be experienced alone. There is FAR more joy when many experience Him together than when we try to do so alone. Finally, do not be deterred when people reject your offer to share Him with them. Smile and continue exactly as before. Be even more loving. Be even more gracious. Pray even harder. Serve longer. All the while trusting God that one day, they will come to see Jesus the way you do. Strength and Grace.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 17:18:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015