You are an open book
Behaviour can affect how we see a place
I was sitting at the coffee shop and a man at the next table spoke with an accent so I asked him where he was from.
He said, ‘I’m from Jamaica Man.’
In the next few minutes as he talked about his country I thought that I would like to see Jamaica.
Strange how we can form an opinion about a place based on a ten minute conversation with someone from that place. Was everyone in Jamaica as nice as Anthony? Not likely, but that didn’t stop me from thinking that Jamaica would be a wonderful place to visit.
This leads me to wonder what if this man had been rude, crude, loud, and not friendly. Would his bad behaviour have formed a different opinion in my mind about all the people from Jamaica? Likely.
Would I want to spend my money and travel to see Jamaica? Not likely.
The truth is, my decision to like or dislike a place was not based on the place itself but it was based on the people who came from the place. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:3 “clearly you are an epistle (a book) of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.”
When people accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord they become Christians and are grafted into the marvellous family of God. They are given a new identity, a new hope, a new future, and become new citizens of Heaven.
The Bible says in 1st Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.”
Have you ever been prejudged by people who didn’t know you? I have invited people to church and they would somehow figure out that I’m a faithful Christian, ‘Oh... you’re one of those.’
Someone they met before me had caused them to have a negative opinion about me. The truth is I can’t undo anyone’s negative opinion based on the past but I can act Godly now and begin to shape a different future. Our past may be cast in stone but our future has not yet been written.
Things like love, joy, and peace or hate, bitterness, and envy are all seeds that reside in our heart. From what we choose to plant today, it will be revealed in the harvest field of tomorrow.
I grew up on what I call, ‘the wrong side of the tracks.’ Someone asked me where exactly is the wrong side of the tracks. I said it’s the place where people talk down to you and they expect you to fail. It’s the place where you are labelled a loser, trouble maker, high maintenance and you’re likely not going to amount to much.
You may be stuck in a bad place but Jesus is alive and He can pull you out of your past and give you a hope and a future.
I talked with a First Nation’s man last Sunday who said he’s 57 days clean. I talked to another man a few weeks ago who said it’s been two years since he had a drink. Both of these men had this in common, they looked up to God and asked for His help.
Find a good church to attend and practice love and kindness. In so doing the world will wonder, ‘are all believers as nice as you?’ God bless you all.