Lenten Love #20

In my daily devotional reading the other day, I was working through the Gospel of John’s 8th chapter.  So one day’s reading ended with verse 32, which is widely popular and often quoted, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (CEB).”  And like I sometimes do, I read it through the lens of my current situation and thought, “How freeing is that concept. What an amazing idea!”

So the next day, I picked up the reading at the very next verse and found these words, “They responded, ‘We are Abraham’s children; we’ve never been anyone’s slaves.  How can you say that we will be free (v.33, CEB).” You can imagine how disappointed I was.  What you and I consider a wonderfully inspiring message originally fell on ears that were not ready to hear it.

I think as Christians we can relate to this in a way.  We find ourselves in a world that is distancing itself from the church more and more each day, for a variety of reasons.  Whether it’s our friends and family, neighbors and acquaintances, or complete strangers, folks are looking for truth in places other than the Church. Without assigning blame for why this is happening, the end result has caused a lot of people to fear.  “What will happen to the church and to our faith?”

Personally, I’m not worried a bit because we worship a God capable of some amazing stuff.  But more so, what I take away from these readings in John is that maybe we are in a time in which the ears of the world are just not ready to hear about the transforming power of God’s love.  Maybe some of our loved ones are going through a dry season and will have to spend some time searching elsewhere.  That should never deter us from sharing the Love of God that we find in Jesus Christ.  Remember, our job is not to reap the harvest; our job is to simply plant the seed and do our best to tend the soil. And we do that by living into Jesus’ ultimate teaching of sacrificial and servant love.

Have a great Friday and Happy Gardening!
Peace,
B
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