http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rom%2010:13-15&version=NIV
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%209:15&version=NIV1984
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+3:6&version=NIV1984
The lesson for our adult S. S. Class this morning consisted of splitting up into several small groups. Each group was given several newspapers. And a pair of scissors. Their assignment? To clip out any stories involving good news. As you can imagine, the bulk of the newspapers were left over when the challenge was done. The fact is that there isn’t a lot of good news in the media. So one of Friday’s news stories was a sight for sore eyes. Or ears.
It seems that some generous individuals are paying off lay-aways for customers at various K-Marts throughout the country. It is also happening in other stores, such as Walmart, but not to the frequency that it is occurring at K-Mart. The thinking is that K-Mart has a long history of providing layaways for customers so they are being targeted more. http://www.koaa.com/news/anonymous-donors-pay-off-strangers-k-mart-layaway-accounts/ It is reported that one Indianapolis woman, in her mid-40s, paid off the layaway orders for 50 people! Wow. Extremely generous. And touching. Then, on the way out of the store, she handed out $50 bills and paid for two carts of toys for a woman in line at the cash register. When asked why she did it she responded that it was in memory of her husband who had died recently. Elsewhere other anonymous benefactors were paying off most, if not all, of the layaway balance for others. Especially for those individuals who had toys for children on layaway. What a great story. What a great gesture. Those who have much, helping those who have little. Isn’t this the way it should be? How inspiring. I’m sure that these random acts of kindness will be remembered for many years by the grateful recipients.
This caused me to think. What is the greatest thing that I can do for someone else? What is the one thing that I have been given that I need to pay forward? I don’t want to minimize what these anonymous people have done but, for me, the answer is simple. The greatest single thing I can give to someone else is the Gospel. The fact is that when you have Jesus, you have everything. Everything. Salvation. Eternal life. A relationship with the God who created you. And all the blessings that flow from that relationship. Someone who is worthy of our trust. Our worship. Our service. Someone who loves us with an everlasting love. Who blesses us in more ways than we can count. Someone whom we get to spend all eternity with.
Now, if knowing Jesus is so great, wouldn’t we want to tell others about Him as well? Especially those who are struggling? Struggling in a marriage? Or with raising children? Or with an illness? Or making ends meet? Those who are struggling with addictions? Or guilt? Or shame? Those who have nothing to look forward to but an eternity of darkness, suffering, and regret?
Yes, salvation through Jesus is the greatest gift that we, or anyone else, could ever hope to receive. And what better time to share that gift than now? The Christmas season. The time when God’s gift to human kind was unwrapped in human flesh. The gift that will completely transform a person, from the inside, out. The gift that has the potential to affect others in their lives as well. The gift that not only helps now, but will continue to do so for all eternity.
There is only a week left before Christmas. Shouldn’t we go one step further than the anonymous K-Mart layaway benefactors? By giving something, rather Someone, of eternal value? Someone who will change the entire course of their life? So let’s pray and ask God to help us to pay forward the great gift that we have received. To be used in such a way that others will never forget. In a way for which they will be eternally grateful.
Lord, I thank you for day when I received the gift of salvation through Your Son, Jesus Christ. And for the incredible transformation that has taken place in my life since then. I don’t deserve that gift of salvation. I am humbled and honored to receive it. Help me not to hoard that gift, or keep it to myself, but to pay it forward. To be used by You to make an eternal difference in someone else’s life this Christmas. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
It seems that some generous individuals are paying off lay-aways for customers at various K-Marts throughout the country. It is also happening in other stores, such as Walmart, but not to the frequency that it is occurring at K-Mart. The thinking is that K-Mart has a long history of providing layaways for customers so they are being targeted more. http://www.koaa.com/news/anonymous-donors-pay-off-strangers-k-mart-layaway-accounts/ It is reported that one Indianapolis woman, in her mid-40s, paid off the layaway orders for 50 people! Wow. Extremely generous. And touching. Then, on the way out of the store, she handed out $50 bills and paid for two carts of toys for a woman in line at the cash register. When asked why she did it she responded that it was in memory of her husband who had died recently. Elsewhere other anonymous benefactors were paying off most, if not all, of the layaway balance for others. Especially for those individuals who had toys for children on layaway. What a great story. What a great gesture. Those who have much, helping those who have little. Isn’t this the way it should be? How inspiring. I’m sure that these random acts of kindness will be remembered for many years by the grateful recipients.
This caused me to think. What is the greatest thing that I can do for someone else? What is the one thing that I have been given that I need to pay forward? I don’t want to minimize what these anonymous people have done but, for me, the answer is simple. The greatest single thing I can give to someone else is the Gospel. The fact is that when you have Jesus, you have everything. Everything. Salvation. Eternal life. A relationship with the God who created you. And all the blessings that flow from that relationship. Someone who is worthy of our trust. Our worship. Our service. Someone who loves us with an everlasting love. Who blesses us in more ways than we can count. Someone whom we get to spend all eternity with.
Now, if knowing Jesus is so great, wouldn’t we want to tell others about Him as well? Especially those who are struggling? Struggling in a marriage? Or with raising children? Or with an illness? Or making ends meet? Those who are struggling with addictions? Or guilt? Or shame? Those who have nothing to look forward to but an eternity of darkness, suffering, and regret?
Yes, salvation through Jesus is the greatest gift that we, or anyone else, could ever hope to receive. And what better time to share that gift than now? The Christmas season. The time when God’s gift to human kind was unwrapped in human flesh. The gift that will completely transform a person, from the inside, out. The gift that has the potential to affect others in their lives as well. The gift that not only helps now, but will continue to do so for all eternity.
There is only a week left before Christmas. Shouldn’t we go one step further than the anonymous K-Mart layaway benefactors? By giving something, rather Someone, of eternal value? Someone who will change the entire course of their life? So let’s pray and ask God to help us to pay forward the great gift that we have received. To be used in such a way that others will never forget. In a way for which they will be eternally grateful.
Lord, I thank you for day when I received the gift of salvation through Your Son, Jesus Christ. And for the incredible transformation that has taken place in my life since then. I don’t deserve that gift of salvation. I am humbled and honored to receive it. Help me not to hoard that gift, or keep it to myself, but to pay it forward. To be used by You to make an eternal difference in someone else’s life this Christmas. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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