Giving Our Lives Away

Last week, I was standing in front of a giant stage in a park in downtown L'viv ,Ukraine where we were about to have a concert featuring "Master Plan 2.0" from our church when a young man approached me with a smile as wide as the stage behind me. I didn't immediately recognize him, but that smile gripped my heart as my mind raced back through time and the many trips that I had made to L'viv.

Then our team leader and base guitar player in the band walked over, and with a big grin of her own said, "Pastor Chuck, do you remember Victor?" As I looked into his bright brown eyes, I suddenly found myself back in an operating room in a L'viv hospital, and the year was 1994. There, standing in front of me was a scared little boy whose eyes were so turned inward that all that could be seen was the white part of the eye ball. Victor's eyes were so crossed that he was doomed to a life of not only partial blindness but ridicule and humiliation. Now here he was standing in front of me, a handsome young man whose eyes were perfectly straight glistening with God's Spirit and most of all a heart of gratitude.

Suddenly I was overwhelmed with a sense of fulfillment and purpose knowing that standing before me was the fruit of our first medical outreach to L'viv; Victor was six years old when we first met in that operating room and Dr. Bobbi, from our team, operated on his severely deformed eyes. Now, at 21 years of age, his future lay before him as a gift from those who were willing to give their lives away as a testimony to God's love. But even more so than fulfillment, I felt a sense of gratitude for the people that make up this wonderful church here at High Mill that have so faithfully given of their time, money, and talents so that others could receive the saving message of the Gospel of Jesus and have their bodies healed at the same time.

When I meet believers who are seemingly bored with life and are not involved in the lives of others, I am reminded of the words of Jesus that ," You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world...Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. " When you are busy giving your life away, you don't have time to live joyless lives or be bored. He gives you a sense of Destiny that suddenly gives your life new meaning. So I ask you, Who are you giving your life to?