For the World

Imagine 50 years down the line, the world is in the aftermath of an era plagued by war and corruption. Everything is in shambles, there is little sunlight from all the dust kicked up by the warheads, the land is barren and empty. The population has been reduced by at least 75% and the world market is non-existent. Now Derek, who was a survivor of this great tragedy, has been living with a small community in what was left of Chicago. They struggle to survive, but have been pulling through. However, one day when the Derek got together a group to forage for resources and other survivors, they came across this simply enormous vault in the remains of the municipal center. It was tightly locked, but the bombings had jarred it loose. Derek and his group ran back to their shelter, found a large crowbar, and pried the door to the vault open. What they found inside was astounding. The room contained a book on a stand titled, “How to Heal the World After a Destructive Crisis”, and the rest of the seemingly endless vault contained all the materials and resources outlined by the book that was needed to make the world whole again. Overjoyed, Derek and his group ran back to their community and spread the news that the world could be saved. Everyone rejoiced and spoke of how the world could be restored to how it was 30 years ago, which was their Golden Era before the wars started. Now, for our sake, the story ends.

If you were Derek, what would you do? The sensible thing is to take the news around the globe and use the book to heal everything, right? The question is, is this story really that far-out from what we are experiencing today? I would say no. I’d like to make the assertion that we live in a moral wasteland not different from Derek’s world. Metaphorically, we Christians are the community graced by the good news that can save the world; God’s Word. It would be inconceivable for us, the community, to hoard the good news to ourselves, right? Take the example given in the read for today.

Read Acts 14:21- 28

The passage tells us of the places Peter and Barnabas go to spread God’s Word. How can we read this and not be inspired? This should ignite in us a passion to spread the word, yet even myself sometimes I just feel like this isn’t on my list of immediate to-dos. It’s on my list marked “I’ll get around to it when I get the chance.” The truth is though, God is telling me that the chance is now, and I’m sure He’s telling that to you too. I want you to reflect and think about how you can be a light to this world. Pardon the cliché, but every fire starts with a spark, and each one of us definitely has a potential for a spark. Take this passage as inspiration to go out and make a difference in someone’s life. I myself am rejoicing that I’ve brought a friend to Christ, and will start taking her to WCAC soon. I don’t want to be the only one who knows this great feeling, so I implore you to at least sow the seeds of Christ in one of your non-Christian friends. Do not be scared, embarrassed, or intimidated; just a few verses above the one we just read, Peter was even stoned by a crowd and left for dead, but he simply got up, and went back into the city. So follow his example, spread the news, because the world simply cannot wait.

WCAC YG - Prayer Calendar
Thursday: Pray for the church (small c)
Pray for the divisions among our church: Whether it’s within individual congregations or the church as a whole