9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
--John 10:9-10
Imagine for a moment that you have been put in a town carrying a valuable message that will give anyone who knows it a peaceful and satisfying life. Along with this valuable message you have been given a special sense that reveals to you the people who need it. As you walk through the town, the people seem to have pretty normal lives. Most of them have decent jobs. The children in the town enjoy good schools and like to play when their time is free. On the weekends people have friends over or watch football on TV. It seems to be a nice, quiet town. You are shocked, then, to discover that over half the people you encounter trigger your special sense that they are enjoying neither peace nor satisfaction in their lives. They desperately need the message you have.
One problem. People in this town don’t learn very well when you simply try to tell the message to them. They have settled for life as it is now. They don’t have a vision for what life could be. Their best hope for embracing your valuable message is to see you experiencing the peace and satisfaction they could also have.
As a believer in Jesus YOU are the person carrying the valuable lesson! People enter into the abundant life of peace and satisfaction as they become Jesus’ disciples. According to statistics, 60% of your neighbors, co-workers, and friends don’t have a meaningful relationship with Christ. They may know who he is, but they haven’t “entered the gate.” They have a life, just not the abundant, transformed life that Jesus promises through a relationship with him.
I am reading the diary of an American missionary named Frank Laubach right now. Laubach was a missionary to an illiterate Muslim tribe in the Philippines during the 1930s. In his diary, Letters by a Modern Mystic, I have been challenged by his perspective that he had no right to convert Muslims to Christianity unless it led them to a fuller life in God than they had before. Here’s an excerpt from his diary dated 9 March 1930:
“Clearly, clearly, my job is not to go to the town plaza and make proselytes, it is to live wrapped in God, trembling to His thoughts, burning with His passion. And, my loved one, that is the best gift you can give your own town.”
Ultimately what will lead people to a satisfying, life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ is speaking the message with your life. I invite you to take some time this month to reflect on your life as it is right now. Ask Jesus to refresh your spirit, give you His thoughts, and energize you with His passion. Perhaps you might read through one of the gospels this month and connect more deeply with Jesus and his life. The best gifts we can give our town are lives wrapped in God…lives full of God.
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