This coming Sunday I am preaching the beginning of Paul’s letter to the Galatians, where in verse 4 he writes of Jesus that he:
“…gave himself for our sins to delivers us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God…”
I’ve had two people on my mind lately, people whom to the best of my knowledge have no desire to be delivered of their sins through faith in Jesus. At least that is what I think is the case. I suppose that I could ask them but one of them doesn’t return my calls or texts and the other one has a more open hostility to the idea of being a Christian, so what might be considered a more direct method of sharing the good news of Jesus with them in an effort for them to receive and embrace it does not seem possible at present.
I’m not giving up. I continue to pray for them. And while I don’t want any bad things to come into their lives I do know that when we are in hard places and all other options appear to be eliminated that people can look at the person and work of Jesus in a new light. And so I have a desire that for these people that whatever it may be that they are hoping in, or grounding their lives in as a source of meaning, are seen to be what they truly are. Dead ends. They may be good things, such as family or work, but they are not the most important thing, which is to be made whole with God through faith in Jesus.
May it be the will of God to reveal the roads and paths that they travel on for meaning in their lives to be dead ends. The roads and paths that may look like they are going somewhere but come to an end without connecting to anything else.
For my two friends may it be the will of God to bring them to the path that ends with faith in Jesus. May it be the will of God that one day, instead of praying for the salvation of my friends, that we can join together in praising God for what he has done in uniting us in faith as his sons.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Photo credit: By
haymarketrebel - Dead End At The Border, CC BY 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72020913
It's a hard concept, but it's hard to trust due to past Christianity playing in the repression set upon the old generation pple. I write this in part 2 my life within the rez, I went 2 church, sunday school but that was it I went becuz was told 2 go, as an adult I still had stories of my mama and how she was treated so it took awhile but eventually I'm here in church and accept God. But it's very difficult to understand how my mama was made 2 stay in town away from her family and stripped of her native clothing, told not 2 speak abachii, her hair cut and on and on etc. We knw the story but this was done within the church by Christian pples so u can understand why pple are reluctant to come to christianity. It's like the Godly pple we were told 2 trust failed & now suppose 2 trust, but I feel it will happen just give time just a little of insight from u cuzzin'
ReplyDeleteThanks cuzzin. I appreciate your thoughts. I think that what you have said is a significant part of the point-of-view of the person I had in mind.
Delete