By Not Known
During the reign of Hitler’s Third Reich a German pastor made the decision to uphold God’s word in his life. He was imprisoned for his opposition to Hitler’s ideals and eventually executed. He could not understand nor imagine why so many who owned the name of Christ could betray Christ. He could not understand how they could pray in church, earnestly and sincerely sing hymns, hold up the Bible and profess it to be God’s word and still betray the teachings of God. How the measure of spirituality in their lives were but empty words and hollow professions with no outworking of God’s Spirit to show for it by the way they lived. For Dietrich Bonhoeffer to make a stand he called these the costs of discipleship.
There was a story of a young lady who was walking home from work when she saw a little girl begging on the street corner. The little girl’s clothes were paper- thin and dirty, her hair matted and unclean, and her cheeks red from the cold.
The young lady dropped a few coins in the begging bowl, gave the girl a smile and walked on. As she walked she started to feel guilty. How could she go home to her warm house with its full pantry and well-supplied wardrobe while this little girl shivered in the streets?
The young lady also began to feel angry, angry with God. She let her feelings be known in a prayer of protest. “God, how can you let these things happen? Why don’t you do something to help this girl?”
And then, to her surprise God answered, “I did do something. I created you.”
Have we wondered why God has created us and brought us to Christ?
I remember a poem written by Chick Velasco and the first three stanzas go:
When Jesus looks upon my life,
What picture does He see?
Does He see His own reflection,
Or does He just see me?
Does He see His likeness,
The product of His hand,
Or just another Christian,
Who never took a stand?
Does He see a child of God?
A child that He set free,
Living life to honour Him,
Or does He just see me?
What does Christ see in each of us who is called to be His disciple?
Peter Poon