Jabez Ministries

This is something I’ve written for our church’s Lenten Devotional Booklet. It worth sharing:

George and his wallet

“For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”  Romans 14:7-8 NIV

The passage above, may seem strange as a text for a Lenten meditation.
But If we think about what the text implies, that in between birth and death, life is shared with others, in the Lord.

During this season, we remember the forty days that Jesus spent in the wilderness. The forty days is an important Biblical metaphor, indicating a generation, or a lifetime. Paul’s words indicate not just our birth and death, but our whole lives in between. Our whole life belongs to our lord, and by extension, to our neighbor.

One such neighbor in our church is George Muresan.
George is on the autism spectrum. I have a processing disorder and profoundly hard of hearing. As you can imagine, this leads to interesting conversations.

One Sunday morning, after the service, George and I met up. After shaking his hand and exchanging mutual greetings, George proceeded to take out his wallet. He then opened it and began to show me it’s contents. It consisted of various things like business cards, his bus pass and other items of his interest.

Following his lead, I then took out my wallet and showed him my business cards, debit card, library card, ministry credentials, etc.
The look on George face was that of pure elation.

Later, his mother, Laura, explained to me that this was the first time anyone took an interest in George’s cards. Most just smile politely. She further stated that comparing the contents of our wallets was the highlight of George’s day. The moment of sharing important things in our lives was full of grace.

Who are George and I? We belong to the Lord. In that moment, in George, I saw Christ. What was important in this world changed. The Lord was present then. We practiced living in his presence at a brief moment in time.

Prayer:
Thank You, Lord, for our neighbors. In them we find you. AMEN

– Peter Gordon