Friday, March 28, 2008

I can't find the right station

There are times when you are looking for a certain radio station because they played a cool tune by Chris Spheeris and you have to listen to it again...but you can't find it. Most of the people you and I know are looking for a station that will bring some kind of joy or point to life but they look every day and can't find it.

Yesterday I was asked a question that should not have caught me off guard but maybe the way it was asked caused me to reply with a limited answer....WHAT DO YOU DO? It was of course asked at a coffee shop. I gave a 30 second reply that I traded stocks and that I worked with college students. When I got home I realized I gave a very incomplete answer to that question. So I determined that the next time I see this person I will give them the rest of the answer and really the MOST IMPORTANT answer.

In Proverbs 2:15 in the Message translation is a statement that describes most of the people we know. They are "...traveling paths that go nowhere, wandering in a maze of detours and dead ends." They can't find the right station.

And Jesus said one day in Matthew 9:10-13 that he was here "to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders." We are surrounded by people who are outside of knowing how to figure out what life is really about. They spin the radio dial but can never find the right song. As a follower of Jesus, I know where to find the song. I can program it on my car radio so I get to the right station in a heartbeat.

The next time I see the person who asked me this question and others who are going to ask, my reply will be: People today are trying to figure out life and they usually have no clue. They try everything but it ends up disappointing, confusing or frustrating. There is another way of doing life but we must be connected to God to understand it. Most people have no idea what this means and I want to help them begin to figure this out.

The first answer was my "vocational" answer. The second answer describes the relationship Jesus wants me to have with people in my neighborhood, at the coffee shop, or in Windsor.

FOCUS THOUGHT Life after death is not on many people's minds today but life now is.

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