So, today I went to
see the movie, “Million Dollar Arm.” I
was pleasantly surprised…pretty good stuff!
I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it, so I won’t go
into great detail about it. What I did
like about it was that they filmed part of it in India
and the rest of it in the US. India is a place that I hope to
visit one day so this movie really touched my heart.
The point of the movie was to get a couple of cricket
players from India,
convert them to Major League Ball Players and make a ton of money in the
process. Now, everything was based on a
business plan…they had X amount of dollars and X amount of time to make this
whole thing work. All was going well
until the big day for a Major League tryout for the 2 Indian fellows. Unfortunately, they failed at attaining
positions in the Major League. Now it’s
not because they didn’t have the ability, it was because of the way everything
was handled. The young men were
basically handled like a commodity instead of human beings. It was business for the Americans, just
business! Luckily, someone spoke up and
informed the main guy that he handled the entire situation in the wrong
way. At that point, he corrected himself
and truly took the time to get to know the players and so on.
I see so much of this that goes on everywhere here in the US. Everything is about money and numbers. How often do we actually stop and take the time
to get to know somebody we come into contact with on a regular basis? So often, whether it’s in business, our
neighborhoods, schools, or even in church, we are in such a big hurry that we
get “whatever it is we need,” and move on.
The quicker the better because you know, time is money and money is time…and
heaven forbid that someone be seen speaking to someone “outside of their social
status!!” I’m SO tired of this way of
life!! We’re all human. We all have struggles. We all have only 24
hours a day. We all have to breathe the
same air. We all will exit this earth
some day.
How many people do you come in contact with on a regular
basis that you can truly say you don’t even know their names, let alone whether
or not they’re married, single, have children or other details of their lives?
As followers of Christ, we should strive to know and care more
about others. It’s those interpersonal
relationships that are so very important.
It let’s folks know that we truly care about them. It would be easy for me to go to Wal-Mart, Starbucks
or any place for that matter, go in get what I need, and not speak a word to
anyone. Get my business done and get out
of there…after all…we’re all in a big hurry to get nowhere…right? I wonder though…is that how Jesus handled things
in His day? No, I don’t believe it was.
There are times when Jesus was headed from point A to point B and someone would
cry out to Him. Many of the miracles He
did were in those times where He stopped on His way from A to B. He took
time out for people. As Christ followers, we should too!
A Christ follower = Love God, love people. Take the time to get to know others. If you’re a follower of Christ and you’re not
sharing the love of God, what good are you to the Kingdom? That doesn’t necessarily mean preaching Jesus
everywhere you go. It does mean to let
the light and love of Jesus flow through you to others. Jesus didn’t have a second thought about
giving up His life on the cross for each and every one of us. The least we could do is slow down a bit and
take the time to get to know the people who cross our paths on a regular
basis. You never know, you may be the
only way someone will ever get to experience the love of Christ.
Be led by the Spirit.
He is with us always, but do we always listen to what He’s guiding us to
do? I assure you, if you take to the
time to get to know others by the guiding of the Holy Spirit, life will never
be boring! Just last week a woman
approached me in Starbucks. Apparently
she recognized me because I’m a regular there.
She was drawn to me…or I should say, she was drawn to Jesus in
me…whether she realizes this or not. J She invited me to sit and visit with her and
her friends any time. Instantly I thought,
“there’s no better time than now.” So, I
joined her and her friends. Sure there
was a little awkwardness, but I just pretended that I was comfortable until I
was comfortable. Now, none of us will
ever have a second thought about visiting and getting to know each other when
we see one another. It would have been
easy for me to brush off the invite. I
didn’t know this woman from Adam!
But…what if that moment was the only chance I had for the door to be
open to them? To me, eternity in heaven
is too important to have turned down a moment like this. God is all about people, and we should be,
too!
Take the time to get to know those in your world no matter
how big or small your world is. You
won’t regret it! Hopefully, when we get
to heaven, we’ll be surprised at the folks who are there because we took the
time for relationship here.
