Christ's method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Savior mingled with people as one who desired their good. He showed sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He invited them, “Follow Me.” We need to come close to the people by personal effort. If we would give less time to sermonizing and more time to personal ministry, greater results would be seen. The poor are to be relieved, the sick cared for, the sorrowing and the bereaved comforted, the ignorant instructed, the inexperienced counseled. We are to weep with those who weep and to rejoice with those who rejoice. Accompanied by the power of persuasion, the power of prayer, the power of the love of God, this work will not, cannot, be without fruit. - Ellen G White, Ministry of Healing 143
When this chapter was written, I was staying out in the country, deep in the valleys of Eastern Cape and right next to the ocean. I will not even lie to you, if you don't wake up to that scenery, you are missing out on life! You need to buy more life for your life my friend. Waking up to absolutely no sound of traffic but crowing cocks, bleating sheep and the sound of the large ocean, that is just life with flavour. If you ever thought waking up to no vehicles hooting and screeching tires could be bad, I'll give you one reason why it is. A year ago I got married to my Prince Charming and that's why I'm living out here in the coast. Both of us had no cars before and after marriage, we still don't have a car. Before you look at us funny, look, we are trying to make our house a home first. We definitely are not going to drive around in style only to host visitors in what looks like a university dorm, with almost no furniture. Anyway, that's not the topic right now. Since we still rely on public transport, being out here was a nightmare when you want to get to the city at a certain time. We were about 10km from the main road and 34km from the city. 10km is a distance that I normally would run for exercise okay, it's definitely not a distance that I walk trying to find transport. That's a very long one. So understand this, most people out here have their own cars because public transport is a hideous nightmare. It also did not make matters better that people produce most of their food, so even the ones with cars did not travel to the city so often. It so happened one of these Sundays that my husband I had to get to the city. We came up to the place where most residents wait for transport and found 2 elderly women in what seemed like Methodist church uniforms. We exchanged greetings and while they were still asking about us, their taxi pulled up. They had their hired transport to and from church. Since they had just found out that were were going to the city, they asked their driver if it were not possible to take us with and drop us by the main road at least, where transport was easily available. Well, he agreed and in we went. The taxi was full of the church ladies who were chatting each other about everything. They pulled out fruits and started distributing them, even to us.
Everybody was enjoying this fresh, organic fruit, but I was thinking about something deeper. Do you know how special it made me feel, that as young as I am, these older women practiced so much kindness to me? That it didn't matter to them that I'm from a completely different culture and speak a different language? I felt right at home with these women and that made me think about this: How easy would it be for me to say yes if one of them asked me to come join them for a cup of tea one of these days? How easy would it be for me to approach them if I desperately needed transport again? Now tell me, would I say no when invited to their church?
Most of us can sing Matthew 28:18-20, but do we ever stop and analyse those texts? It's only recently that I looked at the commission and realised that it is a commandment of God. The same God who said, "Thou shalt not kill" is the same that said, "Go ye therefore into all nations..."
How much weight does it carry now when you look at it? I'll tell you this, A LOT! Our dodging of this duty is disobedience and it is sin. Jesus said "If you love me, keep my commandments," right? So our failure to take the great commission as a commandment and a serious thing to live by, testifies that we do not love Jesus. How can you love Him if you don't obey Him?
