It's Only Visible When You Try To See It

For the longest time, I hated going to "big church" on Sunday. I hated it. It was always geared to the adults, and I never felt like any of the deep, elaborate studies they did applied to my life. I would go to youth church on Wednesday nights, but I would avoid "big church" whenever I could.

It was the same when I was reading my Bible. I never felt like I'd learn anything. Nothing in it applied to my life in 2010.

So, after a while, I just didn't bother. I didn't go to "big church". I didn't read my Bible. What was the point if I was going to get anything out of it?

I realized after a while, though, that the only thing that was hindering me from learning in these places was myself. I didn't learn anything at "big church" because I didn't come wanting to learn, eager to learn, ready to learn. It's all about your attitude.

If you come to church, knowing in your heart that God has brought you there for a reason, knowing that you could learn something that will change your life, you'd be surprised how ready you are to write down every word the pastor says, how eagerly you drink in his words.

It's the same with reading your Bible. If you open it up every day as simply a habit, or even simply as something you have to do because "that's what Christians do," then of course you're not going to get anything out of it! When you go to read God's word, you have to realize that you are reading what God has left us so that we can understand Him, and He can teach us. You have to go into it wanting to learn, eager to learn, ready to learn. Only then can we truly absorb what God's trying to say to us.

It's true that the language they use in the Bible is different than the language we use today. It's not easy to read and understand. But that's just it, isn't it? The Bible isn't supposed to be easy. Jesus even created the parables to confuse people who weren't true Christians. Because people who only said they were Christians wouldn't bother making the effort to understand the parable, but a true Christian would work their brain hard to understand what God was trying to say to them.

It hasn't changed today. Yes, the Bible's hard. No, it doesn't always seem relevant. But a true Christian will work and search for the deeper meaning of what God is trying to say. God's messages, whether you're just reading your Bible or you're listening to a sermon, are only visible when you try to see them.

It's Very Beautiful

Here in America, I think we forget the power of the Gospel. We've heard it so many times, in so many different places that we forget what a moving, incredible story it is.

In Peru, our main goal was not to feed the children, not to care for orphans, but to bring the gospel to the people of Comas.

Truthfully, I wasn't really looking forward to street evangelizing. It made me nervous. In America, you didn't just go up to someone and tell them about the Gospel - they'd think you were a weirdo. Was it any different in Peru?

On one of the days we street evangelized, me and a few friends went up to these two little boys with a translator. Our mission - tell them that Jesus loves them.

We started like always. Giving them a gospel bracelet, and asking them if we could tell them what the bracelets meant. Then we started the story.

In the beginning, God created the world. He created it perfectly. And he created us to have a perfect relationship with Him. But, we sinned. And sin could be anything that we do bad - stealing, lying, cheating. Because we sinned, we could no longer have that perfect relationship with God.
But, God loves us SO MUCH that he sent His son, Jesus, to die on a cross for our sins. So that if we believe in Jesus, He can forgive all of our sins, and we can have that perfect relationship with Him again.
And once you accept Jesus into your heart, God comes to live inside you as the Holy Spirit. It helps you make good decisions, and choose between right and wrong. When you accept Jesus, you want to know EVERYTHING you can about Him, so you learn more about Him by going to church, or reading your Bible, or praying. And then, when we die, and leave our bodies here, if we've accepted Jesus, we get to live FOREVER with God in Heaven. Heaven is a perfect place, where there will be NO PAIN and NO SADNESS. We'll be happy forever!

Then we asked the boys if this made sense to them. They nodded and seemed enthusiastic. One boy in particular was smiling, and he had a bright glow in his eyes. He looked at us and said, "Muy bonita." Very beautiful.

We prayed with them and they asked Jesus into their hearts. They wanted to go home and tell their families. Before they left we asked them, "Have you ever heard this story before?"

The little boy shook his head. No.

Those little boys had never, in their entire life, heard the story of Jesus. In America, we soften the meaning of God's Word. We don't get excited about it like those little boys did. God's Word is GOD. The Bible is God's way of talking to us. We take that far too lightly here. It's time we start looking at God's Word like those little boys - full of wonder and excitement.

Let's get excited about what God has to teach us!