A devotional thought presented originally to Swift Current Men’s Prayer Breakfast, Thursday 02 October 2014. Presented to River Street Cafe 02 Friday 2015
Read Matthew 28:16-20
We were in a parade in our small
community. We have a number of young children in our junior youth group and we
pull them along on a ‘float’ (a trailer) in the parade. They are our friends
and as we continue on the parade route, we have many new friends coming to join
us –some of whom we have never met before: more and more small children, all
under 12, pile onto the float. I don’t know if we could even all fit on this
small trailer by the end of the route: everyone wanted to join us on this float
in the parade! This is what serving our Lord and fulfilling our Great
Commission is like. As we Christians follow the Lord along the parade route
that is our life, it should be so much fun that all of our friends watching
from the sidelines will naturally want to jump on the float, celebrate, and
enjoy the ride with us; so we should invite them to do just that.
The road isn’t any different whether you
are on the float or watching the parade or walking that same road. Roads have
pothole, turns, curbs, obstacles, and whatever else roads have. The difference
is not the smoothness of the ride. The difference is the enjoyment of the ride.
These same kids who might otherwise complain about the rough road instead sang,
played, cheered and waved as they had fun and invited their friends to join
them on the float.
The other week, a new friend in our
community jumped onto the Salvation float with us. It was exciting. She made a
decision on Thursday, I believe; she prayed with us just before the service and
she testified on Sunday morning in front of the whole congregation about the
experience of welcoming Christ into her life: her experience of jumping onto
the metaphorical Salvation float. This is wonderful; this is transformational
and this is what we are all supposed to do: jump on the Salvation float and
invite others to join us there. As we all jump on the Salvation float, we are
to extend our arms and invite all our friends to join us. This, in Matthew’s
gospel, is so important that it is reflected in Jesus’ very last recorded
words.
Jesus, while commissioning us to invite
everyone to join us on this Salvation float, encourages us to help people climb
up onto the float.
If there are any here who have never led
a friend to Christ, I invite you to look for opportunities this very week and
if you need any help just ask someone else who is already on the float to help
you.
If there is anyone here today who simply
hasn’t jumped on the Salvation float yet themselves, I invite you to join us on
board. I guarantee you it will be the ride of your life. If you are not already
on board and would like to join the eternal parade by hopping upon the
Salvation float with us, come on up now. Join us aboard the Salvation Float.
Note:
You may wish to pray this prayer as you climb aboard: Dear God, thank you for
your salvation. I am sorry for my sins. Jesus please come into my heart so that
I may be filled with your Holy Sprit. In Jesus’ Name, amen.
[1] Based on the sermon by Captain Michael Ramsay, Matthew 28:16-20: Join
Us Aboard The Salvation Float! Presented to Swift Current Salvation Army,
15 April 2012. On-line:
http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2012/04/matthew-2816-20-join-us-aboard.html
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