Psalm 142:4 – Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul.

THEME OF THE DAY. ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE. Our eyes locked on each other. It was only a moment but it was a moment moving me significantly. I was stopped at a red light, a long red light, and she was sitting on a grassy spot just off the sidewalk to my right.  Probably no more than five feet from me. Obviously no words were exchanged but the message to me was loud.  She never smiled, stared at me for a few seconds which seemed longer and then bowed her head.  The light turned and I went on my way thinking of what just happened.  I thought, “She looked so sad and lonely. I wonder if she is a Christian.  I wonder what is going on in her life causing a visible look of being distraught.  I wonder if there are people in her life loving her.  I wonder if there are Christians loving her with the Gospel.”   As I returned to my office, another thought came home to me . . . “There are a ton of people in my world just like her. Am I doing all I can to be Jesus to those who I can?  Or am I so wrapped up in my own little world of family, ministry, personal pursuits, and pleasures that too many people could look at me and say what David says in today’s scripture – “Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul.”  This challenge forces us to evaluate our Christianity. Christianity consists of three things.  Let’s ponder them together.

First, Christianity is Christ; the living Christ, the indwelling Christ.  It isn’t morality, keeping a bunch of rules, or being religious.  It is a vibrant union of a person with the Lord Jesus that produces a radical lifestyle that is increasingly detached from self-interests and weaned from the world.  Our Lord Jesus has called and purchased us to live with Him as the guiding force and chief affection of our hearts.  And the way we may tell if we understand Biblical Christianity correctly and are living it practically is to immediately answer the question, “Is Jesus Christ the ultimate passion and pursuit in my life?”

Next, Christianity is conforming to Christ; becoming like Him. When God saved us and put us in His Son, the “construction” work began of making us like His Son.  Our progress as disciples of Jesus Christ is not measured by the amount of activity we do for Him, the level of service we render to Him, or anything else about “doing” Christianity.  The ultimate measurement of our growth in Christ is in the Fruit of the Spirit – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).  Every trial, every temptation, every situation, and every circumstance in our lives are God’s gifts to make us like His Son.  Keep that perspective and watch how we develop into the sweet and beautiful character of Christ.

The final truth about Christianity ties in with my story in the opening paragraph and will always be the result of a person rightly understanding and living the Biblical Christian life. Christianity is about influencing people, all people, for Christ. God never intended Christianity and our walk with Christ to be individual, private, isolated, and lived in the cozy and familiar settings of our families, churches, work places and close friends.  And if our Christianity is consumed with “me, my, mine” and “I”, we are so far removed from the call of Jesus Christ to be His disciples. We are on a mission, a God-commissioned mission, to spread forth the message and power of Christ to heal broken lives, to free the captives from sin, and reach out to all the lonely people in our worlds.  To profess to know Christ, yet live a privatized Christianity with little or no burden and activity reaching into the lives of others with the message and power of Christ is a life of the highest contradictions.  We have met the God of love and are to take this God of love to all the lonely people in the world.

I will likely not see that woman again.  Then, again I might, but if not, she reminded me that I don’t live for “me, my, and mine.”  And neither do you.  We are property of Another; property of Him who bought us by His blood and love, not to live for ourselves, but to die to ourselves for the sake of others.

PRAYER: “Father, give me eyes to see people the way Your Son sees people and let me act as He does toward them.”

QUOTE: “To not care for people and yet profess to follow Jesus Christ is the height of self-deception and hypocrisy”