John 1:46 And
Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"
Philip said to him, "Come and see."
How do I look at people, people groups, towns, cities? I tend
to look at them collectively as a group not as individuals, tarring them all
with the same brush just like Nathanael and Jesus. Unlike Nathanael I tend to
stop there not going and seeing for myself, what if the individuals don’t like
me or they hurt me or steal my stuff.
If this attitude pervades my life will I ever leave my home
will anyone ever know that I love Christ, will I really love Christ if I follow
this path? If Nathanael had followed his line of reasoning he would never have
met Jesus the saviour of the world.
I was reading the story of David recently and again the classic
verse of how God looks at us shot me between the eyes again 1Sa 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel,
"Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I
have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the
outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." Or what about
one of my favourite verses in the Bible Ps
139:17 ¶ How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum
of them! 18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You. Does God look at the big group of people
and listen to the rumours about them, about their bad ways and say there too
bad I’m not going there? No he looks at the individual heart and longs to see
them saved.
We get so hung up on exteriors we forget the individuals,
people who need Christ and his love. If people like Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Peter Fleming and Ed McCully
Jim Elliot had listened to what the world had said about the Auca Indians they may
be alive today but how many millions would be in hell now.
I pray the lord would give me a heart for individuals, it’s
so easy for me to judge the world in groups and tar everyone with that brush,
and never reach out to those in need because I think they are too bad to hear
the gospel. What joy I will miss if I live
like this, what joy the Christian world misses living like this only going to
the ‘safe’ places, we to will miss Christ we will miss His great commission – to
GO and see – to make individuals disciples in all the nations.
Lord rid me of my judgmental attitude help me serve you help
me to ‘go and see’.
