|
Being A"count" able
A word from Pastor Eric Dehmer
Walk #62
Table of Matthew
At the pilgrim's commissioning we are told by the lay director while our lanyard is being placed around our neck, "Christ is counting on you." Without knowing exactly what that entails we automatically respond by saying, "And I am counting on Christ." Then, the next day, when we are re-immersed into the "real world" and our Emmaus experience begins its slow fade from the forefront of our consciousness we often simultaneously weaken in our counting on Christ. Does any of this sound familiar -- or did it just happen to me?
For surely, I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with a hope. - Jeremiah 29:11
The good news here is that even when we re-engage in the busy-ness of life and aren't really counting on Christ as we said we would after that mystical three days at Crossroads, His grace is still falling on us like rain. We may not be actively seeking and counting on Him, but He continues pouring His loving presence in our lives whether we are actually cognizant of it or not. Sometimes we have to wander through the wilderness of life or a spiritual "dry season" before we come to our senses and realize what's missing in our lives.
Then when you call upon me and come pray to me, I will hear you. - Jeremiah 29:12
Prayer. We all know of its paramount importance in our lives. But how many of us harken to the words of Paul to "pray without ceasing"? Of course, most of us find it easier to pray when it's a shared activity, as we did during our Walk. Besides church, do you know where you can share this same experience? This occurs every month at your BVEC gathering and our Lord's grace is always felt in great abundance at these events.
When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord. - Jeremiah 29:13-14a
I have sometimes attended Gatherings with the selfish expectation of it being spiritually beneficial for me, especially after enduring a "dry season." Only on arrival I discover that the true purpose of my presence as for the benefit of someone else who needed the love of Christ shared in their own life by the often-unworthy instrument of His will - me. It is these times that I received a far richer blessing that I had ever anticipated. You never know, there may be a member of your former table family who just needs to reconnect and revive their 3-day experience and brace for the coming week with renewed faith and hope. Your presence may be the catalyst for this to happen.
Don't attending Gatherings just for you -- attend them because "Christ is counting on you." I promise that in doing so you will be richly blessed. De Colores!
| 
