This is not a story I share very often with people, but is most certainly the story that has had an influence on me in my call to ministry. So, if you are reading this based off the title of this blog post, you are going to get to know a little bit more about me :).
When I was younger and just getting my little mind wrapped around the ideas of Christianity, I met a really good friend who had a big impact on my life. She was a girl, (of course because I just got into high school and I did not want to be talking to guys), but we were more friends and did not really want anything deeper than that. We talked off and on when I found out shes never been to church since she was younger.
When I found out why she has not been going to church (for reasons I cannot say on here) I encouraged her to try again except at a different church. She disagreed with the idea for a month or so until she out of the blue said she was part of a youth group. My friend was really excited and could not wait to show up again.
One night she called me sounding extremely upset, almost to the point of tears. When she finally started to open up to why, she told me that she never new why Jesus died on the cross. I began to walk her through the Gospel and tell her about the amazing love that Jesus displayed to us and how we are cherished and loved by him. I heard her crying on the other end of the phone and heard her rebuttal that the world does not seem to care. I began to tell her that the world is the evidence of our need for Christ's death and that no matter what we have done, as long as we come to him we can have life.
Her next words to me threw me off, she said I do not want to hear it anymore. I did not know what to do, this was the first person I ever told the Gospel to and the only words I could get out were, "why"? She said, because it hurts to much, to know that a man went and died for me, then rose again, for me, is really hard to bear. So, I stopped explaining everything to her.
Everyday I wish I could have that conversation back. I want to tell her that it hurts, but it hurts to make us realize more what he did for us! But, we need to open our hearts to him, and it is so hard to do that because we do not want to give up our deepest hearts desires. I know I did not before, and that is why I did not finish telling her how I felt, because I did not know how I felt.
If this post does anything (if it does anything at all) I hope that it encourages you to find what the Gospel means to you. Everyday I think about the opportunity that I had, and I feel like I did not do enough. But, if you draw closer to Christ in your walk, and you find what the deep message of Christ's love means to you, you do not even have to tell people about it because your actions will show it! I pray that this blog will encourage you on your journey to Christ. If anyone has any messages to share of how the Gospel has impacted them or has impacted a friend of yours I would love to hear it. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment