Don't ignore the need

 "Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have."(Margaret Mead)

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. (Matthew 16:24-25)

A few caring people was all Jesus needed to spread the good news about the grace he offered. A few caring people is all this world needs to see that message continue to bear the fruit of changed lives today. We have a commission, but are we fulfilling it to the best of our ability and to the best of his enabling? Our ability may be lacking at times, but his ability always exceeds our expectations!

All that we have - Jesus never asked for more than that we lay down our lives in service to him. What might that look like today? It could be that he asks us to reach out to the shut-in widow or even stop long enough to talk with the woman at the grocery store awaiting her rideshare pick-up, helping her to load that purchase into the ride when it arrives. We don't have to change the world from a pulpit - we need to change it from our own front door!

Give - not take. We live in a society bent on what is in it for them - it seems that if there is no immediate benefit to one's own self, there is little desire to do something. What can we 'give' of ourselves this week that will make someone's day brighter, a little less burdensome, or draw them closer to God in some way? It could be that one action you are being urged to do is the very thing another needs more than any wrapped gift under their tree this year.

Don't hang on - let go. The more we let go of our own agenda, the more we see the needs of those around us. Perhaps this is why Jesus told us to lay down our lives - to not hang onto it. He knew the more we focus on our own life, the less we see those around us. The less we see them, the easier it is to ignore the need we have been called to meet in that very moment. Disciples aren't afraid to both see and meet the need. Just sayin!