"I am the vine" in our office - the grapevine that is. I have taken it upon myself to inform all of my close friends, via e-mail, whenever I see free food on the counter. We have a regular underground sweet tooth network here! I call our little group "The Breakfast Club." It feels good letting others know there's sweets to be had because they are my friends and I wouldn't want them to miss out on any of these fabulous surprises! Most of the time the treats are good. Other times . . . well, let's just say there might be leftovers.
Usually though, we at the office are not very discerning when it comes to food. We'll usually eat anything. Got a rock hard bagel or some left over Christmas cookies? From last year? Take them to work! Somebody will eat them if they're hungry enough! But I'm getting off track.
Desserts aren't always super good. Sometimes at work we get a cake that's burned on the bottom or at home my wife might try a new recipe only to discover the picture in the book probably tasted better. I remember this one time, when I was in grade school, I played Little League baseball. Our team wasn't very good. We usually showed up every Saturday, got our butts whooped and then went home. Week after week we endured merciless beatings at the hands of our opponents. Things got so bad that my grandmother made me a pumpkin pie one day out of pity. She already KNEW we were gonna lose! When I got home from our shellacking she set a nice, big piece of warm pumpkin pie down in front of me at the kitchen table. Boy that looked good! I took a huge bite in mouth-watering, sweet anticipation . . .
"Grandma!!!" I said, as I spit the pie back out onto the plate. NO SUGAR! She had forgotten to put the sugar into the mixing bowl. That was one nasty dessert!!
Most desserts are yummy. They go down sooo good. It's very easy to share the news of good tasting desserts because everyone knows what good desserts taste like. Chocolate chip cookies for example always go over well. Everybody knows what they taste like. But if you made some unknown dessert nobody ever tried before, people would maybe wait to see what others thought of it first. Like I should have waited for my dad to take the first bite of Grandma's pumpkin pie!
Sharing our faith with others is much the same. You and I know the love of Jesus is the sweetest thing we've ever experienced. We can still experience difficult times in our lives but those circumstances are made easier to bear through Christ. It should be so easy to tell others about the special treat of The Gospel. So why do we seem so hesitant to spread THAT news. It's easy to tell others there are doughnuts to eat but not so easy to tell people they must repent and surrender their lives to Jesus.
The problem is two-fold. Most people are satisfied with their lives the way they are. They're like someone who's never tasted a dessert. They have no clue what joy awaits them.
"How do you know you don't like it if you've never even tried it?" Ever hear that when you were growing up?
"Broccoli"? Are you kidding me? No way!!"
Yet somewhere along the way someone got me to try some. And now? Steaming broccoli with cheese on top? Oh yeah!
Most unbelievers have "never even tried" the Gospel. They have their pre-conceived notions of what it's like and what they'd have to give up. They have no idea what they'd gain. They would gain . . . the whole world.
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done." - Matthew 16:26-27
The other problem most non-believers have in accepting the Gospel's message of salvation . . . is us. We are afraid. We are afraid to tell others about Jesus because it's outside our comfort zone. We want people to like us and, if we tell them about Jesus, we fear that maybe they won't.
What was that the angels said every time they appeared to someone? "Fear not!" There is no reason to fear telling others. They, and we, have everything to gain. Jesus just said in that verse yu just read that "He will repay each of us according to what we have done," for Him. :)
I have two questions for us today. The first? Who is the one person in our lives that we wish knew Jesus? And the second, "What are we waiting for?"
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