A Quick Hello

These little calves were so curious as they approached our imposing white SUV with ease. The rest of the herd either ignored us, or headed the opposite direction. The softly colored and furry calves allowed me to get close and take their picture. Though I could have stayed outside the car for a while longer, they became bored with the woman with the camera and went on about their business. So like a lot of things that make good memories, I painted them. But that’s not why I am writing. In fact, today, I am starting over on the painting I titled “A Quick Hello.”

Appropriately, God uses sheep to describe our need for him. We are the lost sheep, He is the Good Shepherd.  But I can see that in this case – we are a lot like cows. We are curious, but we lose interest. We are all about the “Quick Hello” but wander off to do our own thing.

I don’t know if I will rename the painting after it has a little make-over. If so, I might name it “Stay a While” or “Can I Buy You Lunch,” (at Chick-fil-A of course.) My point is that we are so quick to say hello to the people God places in our path, but we easily lose interest. Not that we aren’t friendly, we just aren’t committed. As I write this, I looked up “F” words that served as synonyms for committed. Because you all know if you’ve ever sat through a sermon or a speech, alliteration helps us to remember points made. But this time, I thought wow. Surely that is not the word to use. So here it is: The number two synonym for committed is faithful.

So let’s try this again and see how it rings. “Not that we aren’t friendly, we just aren’t faithful.” It stings. I don’t know about you but when I hear the word faithful, I immediately think about my faith to God. And if faith in Christ produces obedience in Christ (Romans 16:25-27,) then I have to ask the question “what does obedience look like?”  How is being comfortable with a quick hello so wrong?

The scripture that comes to mind is Matthew 25:31-40. I’m not going to cut and paste the whole passage. As I type just a few verses, it’s going to sound familiar for many of you. But don’t let familiar scripture stop there – get curious and read what comes before and what comes after. Pull the meaning out of His words. 

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” Matthew 5:35-36

We can’t minister to the “least of these” (Matthew 25:40) if we lose interest in the very people God commands us to be interested in. Remember, our obedience, our shining light – isn’t our light. It’s God’s. And it’s what makes him Glorious. If we are going to draw people to God, we first have to be willing to reach out and draw them to us. 

I don’t usually close a blog in prayer. In fact, this writing is from my email to those who have signed up as subscribers. But we need prayers to make us more obedient. We can’t do it on our own.

I pray today that God gives us the heart to sacrifice our needs, our time and our ways for His. I pray that instead of settling for a quick hello, we can see the broken and invite them in. We ask you to Instill in us a desire to be more than curious and to be more than comfortable. Help us to help others find life in you.

Remade,

Becky

P.S. This message has been one God gave me for my heart – not just yours. So let’s take one last look at the painting “A Quick Hello” together – before I make it new again. Maybe I will have you help me give it a new name!