What Do Your Actions Say?
“What do you think? If a man
owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the
ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if
he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about
the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven
is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.”
– Matthew 18:12-14
She couldn’t remember where she left her. She was a
new mama and trying to balance staying with the herd and responsibly taking care
of her calf caused her to make a decision she regretted.
She bellowed loudly at me as she searched franticly
for her tiny baby girl. The cow had no doubt that I could find the baby she’d
misplaced. She just wanted me to do it immediately.
It took a while but I did find the baby. I watched her
trot toward a relieved mama cow. She had never intended to lose her baby. She
just wanted to be with the herd. We aren’t much different. Sometimes we’re so
focused on being with the crowd that we don’t realize we’re ignoring those who
desperately need help.
I could have ignored the cow. That baby was her
responsibility. Eventually, she’d have found it. But I didn’t. I knew I could
help her and, frankly, I wanted to. I care about the cows. Do I care about
others just as much? Do you?
We never intend to be a bad influence. We never intend
to teach children, by our actions, to use bad language or complain about “having”
to attend church. We never intend to show that things come before people or
that helping someone else is a chore to be avoided whenever possible.
How we live our lives is what shows others our faith.
It shows up in the children we are around, whether our own or someone else’s
children. It speaks to those who aren’t believers but are looking to see what
sets us apart to determine if maybe Jesus is the answer for them.
We rarely think about the silent influence we might
have on people. Most of the time we aren’t even concerned about others. We’re
just focused on ourselves and those closest to us. We don’t care too much about
the lost, the hurting, the disenfranchised. And then we wonder why there’s so
much violence in our schools and workplaces.
Hatred isn’t a trait we’re born with; it’s one we are
taught. Anger bubbles up and we ignore it or walk away. It’s not our problem,
we explain. But Jesus says it is. I wonder what would happen if we were kind to
people we don’t like. I wonder what would happen if we noticed people who aren’t
just like us.
Jesus notices those who are lost. He cares deeply
about those who are hurting, angry, marginal. Why do we think it’s okay to ignore
them?
I know. Sometimes we don’t want to get involved because
the situation is dangerous or it is so overwhelming that we don’t know what to
do. But most of the time we don’t want to be bothered with the needs of someone
else. We’re too busy protecting and caring for what is ours to even notice
someone else.
Stop making excuses and look around you. Lost people
are everywhere. It doesn’t cost anything to be kind. Smiles are free. When we
ignore or hate, we tell others we don’t love Jesus. What do your actions say?
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