LETTING THEM SWIM TO YOU!

As I thought about what I wanted or needed to share with you today, I have to share something I heard today.

Visualize sitting in a boat out in deep waters. Why you ask? I have to agree with Pastor Stuart that sometimes we look for deeper waters in our spiritual life. A new book, music concerts, special targeted workshops, anything to spruce up our own spiritual level. So, what if we see someone on the shore that needs to hear about Jesus and they are waving at you. What do we normally do? We wave back and bid them to swim out to us. Think about that a minute.

Putting my own spin on this today - because it is very convicting to acknowledge that we can miss an opportunity to share our God with others, so easily.

I don't know about you, but the older I get, the more I am likely to say, "Hey, come on out, the water is great, I have plenty of snacks, and the sun is so much warmer here out of the wind." The more it is convenient, the better. Geesh! Shame on me, or any of us that take the easy way out to share our Lord with those who need Him most.

My prayer for each one of us is that we ask God to help us become bold and unafraid. Remember, when we put on the armor of God, we need to have the shoes of "being prompt and ready" to do whatever brings glory and honor to Him. We have the authority, He never wastes anything. HE NEVER WASTES ANYTHING!

So, no matter how you think you bungled it, you didn't. He turns everything we intend for good to His good.

SIDEBAR: Along with this theme, I want us to remember the widows of this world. When my cousin's wife, Nancy was here Monday, we had a moment on the 2nd floor of the ACD Museum. It reminded me of the time when Cheryl Sheeler, ten years ago, said - "Shirley, we need to talk about our husbands. It is a healing thing to be able to do that. No one seems to want to do that with us!" Nancy verified that she can talk with a group who has lost their husband, but not when you are with couples. Another thing that says, "Hey come on out, swim out to me and let's talk." My commitment then became to write to her and I asked a page full of questions about my cousin Denny. I promised to call and let her talk about him as I need to know more about him too. It is that whole thing about, we don't want to make them cry or feel bad. I want to commit to being more real, more ready, more prompt about others. It is easy to do that in the counseling office, but what about outside?

Who needs you today to talk to them?

Let's be prompt and ready to serve God.