“I’ll Never Do That Again…”

November 29th, 2005 | Posted in » Devotions / Bible Studies

While sitting at break today, my co-workers were talking about things our company could do for Christmas (apparently, we always do something charitable). I heard one of them tell the following story about previous activities…

A couple years ago, our company provided food and gifts for a needy family in our community. Apparently, this co-worker was one of two individuals from our company that delivered the gifts. This family was FAR from ungrateful… breaking into tears over the gifts… gushing over how much they appreciated what had been done… just showing their thankfulness on and on. According to my co-worker, even months later they would run into this family and be continually thanked for the generosity.

So what made me relay this story on here? It’s what my co-worker said when wrapping up the story… “I’ll NEVER do that again!”

Ever been in that kind of situation? Doing something Christ-like, yet feeling awkward about it to the point you almost wish you didn’t do it? Ever said, “I’ll never do that again” after such a thing?

Most of us would probably answer yes, which puts us in kind of a tough spot.

Remember Matthew 16:24-25?

Matthew 16:24-25
“24… If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”

Yeah. If we’re going to follow Jesus, we’ve got to carry our cross, and be willing to give up our life for Him. That means that when doing something Christ-like is uncomfortable… we do it anyway. When doing something Christ-like is difficult… we do it anyway. When doing something Christ-like brings fear… we do it anyway.

We’ve got to be willing to follow Christ no matter the cost. Our fear… our self-consciousness… our feelings of inadequacy… our unfounded worries… we simply can’t let these things hold us back.

When it comes to following Christ’s example… may we never allow ourselves to take attitudes of “I’ll never do that again”.

One Response to ““I’ll Never Do That Again…””

  1. By micah on Nov 29, 2005

    john- nice to find your blog. i’m enjoying what I can read. thanks for the link to my page. i’m going to miss you guys this sunday, i’ll be at another church in st. joe speaking on missions and our experience in burkina faso which is always fun. i’m adding a link to my blog as well. thanks for stopping by!

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