Youth Camp

The Salmon

Ezekiel 34 "...Woe be to the shepherds... the diseased you have not strengthened, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought again that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost..."  Lord have mercy and forgive us for not doing our job; forgive me.  Do we see like Jesus saw - people "scattered as sheep having no shepherd"?  We have a tremendous privilege to know the truth that so many are hungry for... the question is are we being faithful to God's appointments on a day to day basis?  It's not in the "some day I'll be... (in a place of influence, 'ready', etc.)" that God is glorified, but in the every day opportunities we have to shine the light of God's love into darkness, plant seeds of His word into broken lives, and BE witnesses.  I recently watched some footage of salmon swimming against the flow to get upstream... hurling their bodies up waterfalls against insurmountable obstacles; overcoming anything that stood in their way to reach their breeding place.  It truly is amazing to see.  What an analogy for our christian life - it is a continual walk; a battle with no discharge; a relentless pursuit of our goal!  We have opportunities every day that God has afforded us and we have to fight against the "norm" and what's "politically correct" to reach those who are in our lives.  Don't have an identity crisis!  You are a child of the King!  Everything else is a "cover"; you are an ambassador!  Sent to that job; commissioned to be in that neighborhood; on a special mission at that school!  Remember your first role; everything else springs from that.  Lord help us to see people as you do; to recognize opportunities presented to us to reach out; to be sensitive to your Spirit's leading to make the gospel known as we should.  In Jesus' name, Amen