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Free to respond - IMMEDIATELY |
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Written by Kathy Platt
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Thursday, 19 January 2012 14:58 |
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Whenever I take a look at what the scripture reading is for the week, there tends to be a word that leaps off the page. This week it is IMMEDIATELY. Jesus sees 2 men, says, "come and follow" and IMMEDIATELY they do just that. Walks a little further along - says the same thing to another 2 men - and IMMEDIATELY they follow. We tend to live in a culture that likes to receive "immediately", but doesn't always seem as keen to give "immediately". First of all we need to check our schedules and see when we might be free to give a little of our time. Secondly we need to check our bank books to see if we really do have any cash that is extra that might allow us to give to something not written into our automatic debits. And then there is the whole business of checking out the legitimacy of whatever it is that is asking us to give. When we were visiting one of the widows in her home in a village in Kenya, she spoke about not being able to pay the fees for her children to write their final exams. That meant they had to be sent home, which meant that she had to come up with food for two more of her children who otherwise would have been fed lunch at the school. So Tim reached in his pocket and pulled out the $10 that enabled her to pay the outstanding fees. I was busy listening and shaking my head in great compassion - but my first reaction was not to just pull the money out of my pocket to give her. I met a man named Paul who is very involved in the work of Sauti Moja. He told me that he had to be careful because he gave so much to others that he didn't have enough money left to buy himself a new shirt - he had a sweater on with a huge hole in the side of it. I yearn for the day when I can say honestly that I responded IMMEDIATELY when I saw the need. Not because I am a martyr, not because I want recognition, not because I have more money than I know how to spend - but because I heard the call to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and I responded IMMEDIATELY! This Sunday I will be showing photos that I took while I was in Kenya and Tanzania. The people in these photos taught me much about courage, about strength, about generosity, and about faithful living. I look forward to sharing their stories with all of you.
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Last Updated on Friday, 27 January 2012 13:09 |
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