“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; twas blind, but now I see.” Who hasn’t sung, or said those immortal words penned by John Newton years ago? I dare say that there’s not anyone who attends church who hasn’t had the opportunity to wrestle with the message of that great old hymn.
We’re told that in America there is a widening gap occurring between those who acknowledge their faith in God and those who do not! In fact, the Barna Research group (a Christian business organization which collects data much like the Gallup poll survey info), reported that even though 80% of adults in the United States, say they are Christian, less than 40% attend Church services regularly. Few of these read the Bible, or take time for prayer. What’s happened? One observation that makes since from Barna’s research finds that most persons don’t like to admit to being lost, or blind to anything. I thought, isn’t that amazing, Newton’s hymn reminds us that we were all lost (“wretched”) and blind. But only when Christ came into our life, could we truly see His ‘amazing grace’. I believe you and I need to be vigilant in praying, witnessing and inviting persons to experience this ‘amazing grace of God’, too! We need to be extremely concerned for everyone, or anyone whom we encounter daily who needs to experience the loving, saving grace of God experienced in Jesus!
A few years ago, as I was leaving Church one of the young boys who attended with his mother, came running up to me, and said quite excitedly, “Pastor, Pastor Roger, can you help me! I’ve found a turtle and it’s stuck, and it can’t get loose!” I followed the lad around to the other side of the Church, into the East alley. There in one of the grated window wells was a small box turtle who was about three feet below ground level. The little turtle wasn’t very big and obviously in a deadly predicament! It had fallen into the space and was trapped! I reached down and raised one corner of the heavy metal grate and the young lad jumped down into the window-well, picked up the turtle and then climbed out of the window-well. As I placed the grate back into position, I asked the young lad how he happened to find this lucky little turtle. He said, “Well, I was just walking by and just happened to look down in there, and I saw it. And it needed help!” Then he said something I’ll always remember. He said, “And then I came looking for you.”
What I realized was that in just hours, or maybe a few days this little turtle would have surely died, if it hadn’t been for someone just looking in places most of us just simply ignore. Makes you wonder if there’s someone in our area who is lost, overlooked, forgotten who needs our help? I would encourage you to keep your spiritual eyes open, for someone may need you to rescue them from the pit, in which they have fallen!
Pastor Roger
