The Last Lap
We are on day 73 of our 90 Day Challenge. For 73 days our church has been reading one gospel chapter a day together. It has been one of the most enduring and unifying spiritual practices in my 27+ years here. I continue to receive emails from folks whose lives have been touched and changed by this simple discipline. With permission, I share one of those stories:
“I want to personally thank you for this 90 Day Challenge. I have learned one thing: this discipleship is not for the faint of heart. We need to be courageous. I never considered that I might have a part in actual discipleship. I need to tell a short story.
For a few months I have been visiting a neighbor who lost his wife in October. I did not know him well, only that he was an old man and that his wife died. I just felt I needed to share my life as a widow to let him know he was not alone. I told him how Jesus had my back and that I prayed every day for Jesus to be with me and that I knew he had a plan for me.
I have another neighbor who is a godly man and I thought maybe our elderly neighbor should talk to a man. Last Monday I told the godly man that I thought the time was right. Tuesday the godly man went up to see the elderly man and, praise the Lord, the elderly man accepted Jesus!
I got a call later from him and he was so happy and thanked me for sending the man to see him. He said he felt like a cloud had been lifted from him. I told him that it was Jesus who knocked at the door, and I just answered it.
The lesson for me is that I need to act like Jesus and share my love of Jesus and He will do the rest. Thank you for the Challenge. I am working on listening and watching for the Holy Spirit to tell me what to do. I am a work in progress.”
Pretty inspiring story, isn’t it?
We are now in the majestic gospel of John. John paints the most vivid picture of Jesus as the Divine Son of God. I urge you to finish this last lap strong! On Easter, I will preach the very last chapter of John’s gospel as we conclude this 90 day journey.
What’s next? Well, by popular demand, we are moving on to the book of Acts. We will learn about how the Holy Spirit took what the disciples learned from Jesus and put it to work. You will hear more about it in a couple weeks. But let’s keep moving!
Pastor Mark