I was on my way to a social holiness retreat. My friend asked me if it was about being holy in your social life? “Sort of,” I replied, to quickly dismiss further questions.
That day was one of the most troublesome days of travel I’ve ever had. Twelve hours of traveling, five different states, a broken plane and itinerary changes messed up my transportation arrangements. Even though I consider myself very strong, I was tired–to the point that being holy in my social life was extremely difficult.
After some rest, I arrived at the retreat location. Little did I know that God had a treat for me. After we met for the first meal at the retreat center, we set out on a prayer walk. Throughout the walk, stations were set up, complete with benches and wooden stands holding a Scripture passage.
The Lord convicted me that day, as I read Scripture, and I heard this question: What am I doing to bring hope to those in need? During my walk on the predetermined outdoor paths, I kept looking down to make sure my steps were firm. After I walked the last path, I encountered a piece of stone in the shape of a heart. I picked it up and tears began to flow. How many of us still have a stony heart, even as Christ followers?
You may think, “No, I don’t have a heart of stone.” But every time we allow injustice in the lives of the vulnerable, when we don’t offer a second chance to someone, our hearts harden a bit.
I still remember the once-popular catch phrase, WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?). Even though “WWJD” isn’t as widely used, still we need to be asking ourselves: What would Jesus do in “this” situation? How would he react?
Each time we decide to follow our instincts instead of God’s precepts, we are not allowing his love to run through our veins. Ask God to cut out a “stone heart and replace it with a red-blooded, firm-muscled heart” (Ezekiel 11:19, The Message) so we can infuse his life, justice, love and mercy into a world that is in desperate need of hope and change.
