… Who Will Care?
Just like the picture of this bush that was ripped out of the ground and carelessly cast aside, so too are Christians who are uprooted from the Christian faith, for one reason or another.
These are perhaps new Christians, or those Christians who have never matured, or even mature Christians can sometimes end up like this.
This bush was uprooted; why? We do not know. We do know that it is drying out, dying, and can do nothing in its own power to restore itself to health.
it…can do nothing … to restore itself…
…basic care…
It would have been so simple to have given it some basic care when it was first ripped up. Perhaps a temporary hole in the ground could have been used to set it upright.
…it is getting too late..
It could have at least had its roots wrapped in some wet burlap, to prevent its roots from drying out from lack of water. It could have been moved into the shade, and out of direct sunlight. All these things could have helped, but it is getting too late.
…how many people are like this..
I looked at this bush and wondered how many Christians in our world today are like this bush.
Alone, defeated, unable to do anything anymore in their own strength to help themselves out of the mess their life has become.
…alone, defeated…
Why? Because something in their life got them ripped up. Ripped out of a church fellowship, ripped out of reading the Bible, or ripped away from a regular prayer time.
…ripped away from…
Some attack from the enemy, or consequences of sin, it matters not what caused it, but what matters is what is done for them.
…who will love them?…
What does a Christian like this need? Fellow loving Christians to prop him up, set him upright, put him in a comfortable shady spot, sprinkle water on his roots and tend to him until he has been restored to health.
…how to love them?…
All this can be given through Bible reading and Bible study, prayer, and encouragement from his Christian brothers and sisters.
…a challenge for Christians…
These need to be strong Christians who know the Bible and know how to pray, in order to give him these things and mentor him into how to fully rely on God.
…will you rise?…
Oh, if we could only see the spiritual wounds that are being carried all around us each day; will we be reaching out to heal?
…will we rise?…
…will we reach out to heal?…
Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you’re making their destiny not brighter, but darker.
C.S. Lewis
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