THE MOST NOTABLE THING ABOUT JESUS IN REGARD TO THE POOR ISN'T NECESSARILY WHAT HE SAID. IT'S WHAT HE DID. HE HAD ONLY A HANDFUL OF YEARS OF MINISTRY, AND HE CHOSE TO SPEND A LARGE AMOUNT OF THAT TIME IN RELATIVE OBSCURITY HELPING PEOPLE IN NEED. THAT WAS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE TO HIM. IT'S NOT EXACTLY WHAT I'D EXPECT OF A GREAT TEACHER TODAY--I'D EXPECT HIM TO INVEST HIS TIME FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT. HIT THE KEY INFLUENTIAL LEADERS AND BE SEEN BY THE MOST PEOPLE.
BUT JESUS CHOSE TO SPEND MUCH OF HIS TIME IN A WAY THAT, ACCORDING TO THESE STANDARDS, WOULD SEEM TO HAVE LITTLE LASTING IMPACT. SOME BLIND GUY IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE GOT HIS SIGHT BACK. HE MOST LIKELY DIDN'T GO ON TO START ANY GREAT CHURCH MOVEMENTS. HE PROBABLY WENT ON TO LIVE A QUIET LIFE. IT WOULDN'T SEEM THAT THIS ACT WOULD HAVE MUCH LASTING INFLUENCE OR POSITIVE REPERCUSSIONS ON THE WORLD. YET JESUS SPENT MUCH OF HIS TIME HEALING INDIVIDUALS, ONE AT A TIME, IN OBSCURITY.
INDIVIDUALS MATTER TO GOD. JESUS' HEALING OF THE BLIND MAN HAD LASTING, POSITIVE EFFECTS ON THAT ONE MAN, HIS SOUL, AND PROBABLY THE SOULS OF HIS FAMILY, NEIGHBORS, AND DESCENDANTS. THAT WAS ENOUGH TO MERIT JESUS' PRECIOUS TIME. SOMETIMES I HESITATE TO SERVE, THINKING, "WHAT DIFFERENCE WILL IT MAKE? NOTHING EVER CHANGES; POVERTY WILL NEVER END." IN THAT THOUGHT, I AM UNLIKE JESUS. IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE TO ONE PERSON, AND EVEN IF ALL THE GOOD THAT COME OF MY SERVICE STOPS RIGHT THERE (WHICH IS UNLIKELY), THAT IS ENOUGH. IT WAS ENOUGH FOR JESUS. HE, THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE, WAS CONTENT TO TOUCH ONE PERSON'S LIFE.
[TAKEN FROM 'HOPE LIVES' BY AMBER VAN SCHOONEVELD]
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