Genuine Care

Genuine Care

I recently was inundated with e-mails telling me of a celebrity who had wandered off the path of solid Christian teaching. These e-mails warned the reader that they should disassociate themselves from the straying celebrity. These warnings were not sitting well with me.

As the e-mails increased, my burden and concern for this person increased. I challenged others to pray; I wrote letters to the celebrity; God woke me up in the night to pray for her. I actually shed tears over this person. I thought I was losing my mind. Finally, I cried out to God and asked Him to help me know if I had gone over the edge. I needed direction.

The next morning, as I was reading my daily Bible devotions from The Message, I read these verses: My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God's truth, don't write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God. James 5:19-20

Sooo... I wrote another letter. I have no idea if my letters will ever reach the intended recipient or not, but I do know that someone will read them, and I am confident that God is in charge. All I need to do is be obedient.As I am writing this, God is speaking very clearly to my heart.

The person who has strayed doesn't have to be a celebrity. When you hear a Christian has fallen, what have you done? Does that person know how much you love them and how their straying has hurt the cause of Christ? What are you doing about it?I am reminded that when Christ was facing the cross for us, He sweat drops of blood.Dear Jesus, while I doubt that I will ever have as deep a concern for souls as you do, just let me care enough to pray and maybe write or reach out in another way. JUST LET ME CARE. -- Marilyn Heavilin is a speaker and author, and serves with her husband each summer at America's KESWICK as a counselor-in-residence.