In case you haven’t noticed, things are changing in this world. On every continent, in every city, and within every heart, something is stirring.
For some of us, it is an unwelcome stirring that we’d rather ignore, as we continue doing what we’ve always done. Yet, others of us are sensing a mighty stirring to put feet to our faith like never before.
Welcome to Walking the Walk. It is our sincerest prayer that this weekly encouragement will be far more than another blog that fills your cluttered inbox. We want to stir up a community of like-minded Christians to “leave their nets behind” and follow in Jesus’ footsteps of love, compassion, and outreach.
At Christians Care International, we want to go further than we’ve ever gone before. And, it might surprise you to know that it all starts with the simplest of things…love. If it is not love that propels us to reach our suffering Jewish brothers and sisters in Ukraine and beyond, then why even bother? Will we not be likened to clanging cymbals, as described in 1 Corinthians chapter 13? It must be our love for God and for others that supersedes all restraints and frees us to walk as Jesus walked.
You may be familiar with the classic book, In His Steps, written by Charles Sheldon in 1896. It tells the story of a pastor who was faced with his own go-through-the-motions religiosity. One day, he unexpectedly came face to face with the poor and broken. It was then that he realized there was a much deeper call to the Christian life than he had been living. From that point on, he challenged the members of his congregation to commit every decision to the Lord and do nothing without first asking, “What would Jesus do?”
Although that phrase has been overly commercialized, it still has great merit for our lives. The way Jesus spoke to people, interacted with people, and most of all loved people, is the perfect pattern for our lives!
In 1 John 3:18, we are reminded, “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”
In deed and in truth…my friends, this is love.
Things are changing. There is no more time to merely talk about answering God’s calling to bless our suffering Jewish brothers and sisters. We must rise up and cast off the limits of our own religiosity. (I’m typing this just as loudly to my own heart as I am to yours!)
The truth is, our Jewish brothers and sisters need our help right now. As you are reading this, Jewish orphans and underprivileged children are suffering, Jewish mothers and fathers are unable to feed and care for their children, and Holocaust Survivors and the elderly are in desperate need our life-saving care and loving companionship.
What would Jesus do?
As I study the life of Jesus in the Gospels, I can’t help but notice that once He began His ministry, it continued through His very last breath. He didn’t take vacations from loving people. He didn’t conform to the religious duties imposed by man-made traditions. He simply let love put one foot in front of the other until it led Him to a wooden cross.
So, my friends here is the challenge for us. Are we ready to let Christ’s love propel us into walking the walk? I cannot tell you how grateful I am to be on this journey with you! For I know that many of you are sensing the stir of rapid change in this world. But instead of finding it an unwelcome inconvenience, you are seeing it as an opportunity to put feet to your faith and walk as Jesus walked.
In His love,
Jennifer Waddle
CCI Ministry Development Team