(Image source: Elijah Boisvert)
“We need to give Christ a chance to make use of us, to be His word and His work, to share His food and His clothing in the world today. If we do not radiate the light of Christ around us, the sense of the darkness that prevails in the world will increase.” ~ Mother Teresa
In the world today, many people of faith have taken their eyes off of the Light (God). Their focus has shifted to themselves and judging those around them. As soon as we take our eyes off the light, darkness quickly swoops in, blurs our vision, and corrupts our souls. We face much division inside and outside the faith community because we have taken our eyes off the light and focused it on the people, places, and things around us.
God has invited everyone (the whole world) to the campfire. Our focus is to show up and join others around the fire and to keep our focus on the Light (God) of the fire. We are not there to observe and judge the others standing around the fire (but we do). We say things like, “What are they doing here?” “They don’t belong here!” “They are this, that, or the other and don’t deserve to be here.” They are not spiritually qualified to be here.” “They belong to the wrong political party.” “They don’t believe or practice such and such.” We could go on and on with all the words we use when standing around God’s campfire to separate ourselves from others. We are all God’s kids, every one of us; may we all learn to accept this truth.
God’s invitation to the campfire requires a response and action on our part. We can say “no” to the invitation, or we can say “yes.” If we say “yes,” then our only assignment is to bring our log to the fire (even if it’s soaking wet). Once we are there, our sole responsibility is to keep our eyes on the Fire (God). It’s never our concern who else shows up at the fire or what hurts, habit, and hang-ups they bring with them to the fire. We are all God’s kids and received the same invitation as everyone else. Whatever their defects of character (sin) maybe, that’s between them and God. We are all on different spectrums of our spiritual journey, and each is working on various aspects of their character. We weren’t commissioned to determine who is qualified and what issues other people should address in their lives at any given moment.
“It’s easier to throw sticks on the campfire than to try to restart it when it goes out.” ~ Cynthia Lewis
What an incredible shift our world would experience if we all learned to show up to God’s campfire with three objectives, to bring our log to help feed the fire, keep our eyes on the Light (God), and emulate the character of God. If the world did submit to God’s design for living, we would see racism, inequality, and division slowly fade. We have all these religious and secular movements attempting to get the world in line when God’s Word gives us clear-cut directions for how to be united as one body. Our job description is to love God, love others, and help change the world. If it’s not broken, we don’t need to fix it. God’s design for living isn’t broke, the problem is we substituted our way of doing things for God’s design for living, and the results speak for themself.
What behavior do you exemplify while standing at God’s campfire?
Father of the Light, thank You for the invitation to be one among many at Your campfire. Please grant me the willingness to continue to accept your invitation to stand in Your light. Please help me be invitational and loving towards all your kids and stop playing the judge, jury, and executioner with those I don’t identify or agree with for living this earthly life. In Your Spirit and Name, I pray these things. May Your will not mine always materialize, now and forever. Amen.
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