I was driving around yesterday with Jeff Snodgrass (whom I work with at CCV for SHIFT Students) and we were driving through In-n-Out for lunch. We had just left San Dimas High School visiting students at lunch. I like going on campus for lunch because the looks you get from students who don’t know you. They know you are not in “the norm” there and they stare you down. It’s quite humorous. Its like you are an antelope on the African plain and you are walking into a lion’s den, they just are amazed and wondered that you are there. Well, we were talking with some students and their friends, one of these students who i have been trying to get to come on a Wednesday night for a few months now (who just started coming recently by the way, Praise God!) and she was 1) excited to see us at school and 2) excited to invite others to SHIFT later that night.
That’s such a cool thing to see. This girl, who really has not “done” church before has been excited about the message of Jesus that she has been hearing and is excited to invite others to hear too and come hang out at church for the night. It’s exciting.
One of the questions Jeff and I were asking each other was, “How come the newer believers are usually the ones that are excited to invite people when the ones that have been coming for a long time are not as pumped to bring new people?” Why are people who are just starting to come to church inviting and bringing more people to Wednesday nights than people who have been coming every Wednesday for the past year? There is something exciting in he fact that new believers are excited, but there something wrong that older believers are not as excited as they once were.
Isn’t it true though? Don’t you remember when you were a kid and you opened that ONE gift you wanted more than anything in the world and you were the happiest kid in the world? But what about 3 months later? Wasn’t that toy always in the closet or under the bed because you got bored with it and the excitement gone?
I can see that being somewhat ok with a toy, but there is no way this should be happening with Christians. The fact that we can take a breath (take a deep breath right now) and realize who is allowing us to take that breath, is more than enough to start dancing right there in the street. We cant allow us to fall into the trap of mundane and routine rituals on a Sunday (or whatever day you go to service) because there is nothing that is more exciting than waking up every morning knowing that Jesus has paid a price for you in order for you to live.
There should nothing more nerve-racking to you than there are people who are close to you who do not know this Truth that Jesus died for them and offers them a new life.
What am I saying? We need to realize that in Luke 15(The Prodigal God) is an everyday thing, that God is waiting for us to realize that we cant do life without Him and will embrace us when we come to Him, no matter what our past looks like. Jesus already paid the ultimate price, there already is this unbelievable grace waiting for you.
If we have been a Christian for a while now, we need to be like a new believer everyday! Much like someone who comes to Christ for the first time, they never have experienced this presence before in their lives and they are excited to share it everyone. If we have been a believer for a long time, we need to have this excitement again, we need to be excited and invite others to come to know Christ just like you did when you first realized what life can be like with a loving God. The fact is, every day we wake up, we are born again. We are new in Christ. He has allowed us to be here another day, another breath. AND THAT IS EXCITING! We need to not fall into the routine that this is a normal thing, just another day type feeling because Jesus is more than that!
Let us start acting like new believers and being pumped and bold and inviting others to share the love you have from God so that they may get to experience it too, just like we did when we first became believers.
Random Fact: Apple laptops can stop bullets.
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