“My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism.” James 2:1
I turned in the crowded convention hall to find another young mom trying to escape the current of the crowd. I smiled politely, distractedly, ready to turn and follow my own agenda when the tears in her eyes caught my attentions.
“Excuse me, are you alright?”
She explained she had no idea why she had come to the home schooling fair that morning. Twenty thousand square feet of curriculum vendors could not overwhelm her any further that she already was. As she tried to check out programs, one vendor asked her to define her goals. That one inquiry released an avalanche of tears and confessions.
The vendor’s response to this scene?
“She prayed with me, right then and there, asking God to reveal if home schooling were right for our family.”
Wow.
The vendors are there to sell curriculum. To keep their companies in the black. But Christians should care that potential customers are doing exactly what they are called to. And this one did. She was not wrapped up in making a sale. She did not immediately dismiss the confused mom in order to promptly help a woman who knew what she wanted.
She was like Christ.
In Luke 19:1-10, Jesus didn’t mind pausing for the company of a mane who, by the world’s standards, could not offer Jesus one thing.
Verse one tells us, “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.” Yet Jesus realized that Zacchaeus, although wealthy and knowing personal prestige, had noticed Jesus and wanted to know more.
So much so, he diverged from his daily agenda and sought out a place where he could glimpse more of Jesus. (And he didn’t care he had to climb a tree!)
Ignoring scandalous gossip and the opinions of others, Jesus acknowledged Zacchaeus before the crowd and then further graced him by declaring he would dine with him.
Zacchaeus caught a fragment of the picture Jesus saw of the man standing before him, a man short in stature, but not in character, at least not any more.
Zacchaeus immediately responded to Jesus’ announcement by vowing to possess the character Jesus had awakened in him.
Jesus further reinforced Zacchaeus’ worth when he pronounced both Zacchaeus’ salvation and heritage.
Just as that vendor had set aside the potential for personal profit and instead sought to help a bewildered young mom find her true calling. The vendor was heeding a higher standard that personal monetary profit, but was seeking to find direction for someone who was lost.
Because, at the end of the day, each one of us is a Child of God.
Reflections:
Read James 2:5. Consider your own agenda. Do you make time for the lost and uncertain?
Read James 2: 8-9. Who has been put in your path that probably will not profit your personal agenda, yet God may be directing you to influence?
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, May I fix my eyes on Jesus, and like Him, realize when to diverge from my planned agenda to offer assistance to every one. Amen
Thanks for reading! Please return by Monday, March 23, for the next post.