A Life that Really Matters

A Life that Really Matters
By Shirley Mitchell

"You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."
John 12:8

Jesus said in John 12:8 when Mary poured out the oil from her alabaster box to anoint Him for His burial, "You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me." As long as the curse of sin is in the world and the curse of sin is on the ground that requires man to toil and to remove the thorns and thistles (Gen 3:17-18), then there will be plenty of people in despair. As long as the prince of the air rules this world, people will be hungry and live in oppression.

Doesn't Jesus' statement just hurt that the world will always have the poor? When I was reading my Bible recently, this verse just nailed to my heart. Some people will be reduced to begging and pleading for help. They are destitute of wealth, influence, position, and honor. There will always be those in need of clothing. I mean truly in need of clothing. When my friend Cissie returned from a mission trip to Haiti last year, she said one thing that seared me. She talked about a village that she visited where the children just didn't have any clothes. She didn't take many pictures from that village since they just ran around naked. We will always have the hungry and those who need clean drinking water. There is a new picture by my computer of two boys in Africa drinking the dirty water - lapping it up like a dog to remind me that there are always hurting people who need Jesus! There will always be those orphaned by the world, needing to find the God who adopts them all as sons and daughters.

As our Christ Compels Board Member Phil says about the poor, "If we serve someone food without telling them about Jesus, then all we have done is let them go to hell on a full stomach." At first when he said it, it took me by surprise, but I started to reflect on the true love at the root of his statement. We must minister to them both physically and spiritually. If there will always be the poor, then there will always be ministry to do. True ministry requires us to get dirty. True ministry requires our sweat. True ministry requires us to be stretched, uncomfortable, and to sacrifice - sometimes our own dreams and our own esteem.

When was the last time that you let God stretch you and use you for the sake of the poor? There is something for the kingdom that only you can do, and there is something that only I can do. The life worth living is the life that is poured out for the faith of others! This is the life that truly matters. It is human nature to desire to be significant. We want to be someone who is important. Without God, all that we do is futile and meaningless. We can't find happiness. With God, when we pour out ourselves for the sake of others for Christ, then we find meaning to life. We find significance. We find a life that matters!

Pray with me: Oh, God, teach me to minister. Teach me how You want me to minister to a world that will always need ministry. There are so many people hurting who need You so show me the ones to whom You chose for me to minister. Help me to get over the life of living for myself and pursue the life of living just for You. Bring eternal meaning to our limited time on earth. It's in the Name above all names, in Jesus' Name, Yeshua's Name, I pray. Amen.