100 Days of HopeSample

Following The Lead Of Jesus In Mission

It is easy to be overwhelmed by all the needs in the world. Where do I start? What should I do? Can I really make any difference? Fortunately, we have the biblical record of just some examples of what Jesus did. From that we can identify a pattern for us to follow.

Some within the church often wonder whether mission efforts should be primarily humanitarian, mostly spiritual or both? This passage from Matthew says that Jesus did both; he both preached the Good News and healed sickness. That’s the big picture. A closer look at this story gives further insights. It says that Jesus, “…saw the crowds. … ” Thanks to twenty-four hour worldwide news, we are inundated with facts about events all over the globe, but do we ever really “see” people? Even in our own community, there are often categories of people we know exist, but we never give much notice. In this story, not only did Jesus notice people, the Bible says, He “…had compassion on them…” Compassion is far more than mere pity or sentimentality. Ultimately, what Jesus did led to action of “…to send out workers into his harvest field.”

This short passage demonstrates Jesus’ way of doing ministry: Notice people. Care about them, both physically and spiritually. In the end, let that motivate you to action.

Prayer: Father, as you walked the earth, what you saw filled your heart with compassion for people. Through your Holy Spirit within me, may I too look upon people you bring into my life with a compassionate, caring heart and be willing to reach out and love them where they are.