Sacred Claim

I haven't blogged in awhile. I've been pretty busy with school, but now it's finished and I am pleased with the result. Shutting (almost) everything down and (almost) living like a hermit paid off!

I think I've blogged before that my Bible Study was reading Set Apart Femininity by Leslie Ludy, so I found this excerpt that I had marked (that we were never able to discuss in Bible Study).

Our act of worship is to offer our bodies to Him as living sacrifices. This is not just sitting in our comfortable church buildings and singing about how much we love Him. It is demonstrating our love for Christ by practically giving it to those who desperately need it.

"If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Depart in peace, be warmed and filled', but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also by faith itself, if it does not have works, is dead." ~ James 2:15-17

The world is absolutely flooded with those who are destitute of daily food and clothes. About 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes... In Latin America and Africa, countless children are addicted to inhalants as a means of deadening their senses to their bodies' desperate cries for food...

These people have a claim on your life... They are a priority to Christ and therefore must become a priority to us. If we are so preoccupied with self that we will not show the practical, life-changing, hope-giving love of Christ to them, our faith is dead...

Jesus went to seek and save the lost. He did not stay among the wealthy and important. He went out of His way to find those in need. And He calls us to follow in His steps.

I love this! I need to work on this. Yes, I feel as though I am aware of all other people need and it's not like I sit around never helping anyone. But, I could do more for them and less for myself. I need to think of more ways.

Shawn's brother and sister-in-law are in Colombia right now because they adopted 3 children. That is doing something! Other friends of ours just adopted a little girl from China. That is doing something! Friends of ours are planning a trip to Mexico this summer. That is doing something! Another friend just had a bead party to support women in Uganda. That is doing something! Shawn and I sponsor 2 children (1 from Mexico and 1 from Guatemala). It's been an awesome experience to be involved in their lives in this way.

I want to do more. I want to be used by God to change lives. So, I think, my next few blogs will be dedicated to this topic. It's something I've always cared about (especially helping children) and I need to discover ways I can do more and to be more open to what God is calling me to do.