Round 2

Christ’s Passion – Matthew 9:35-38
Do you have compassion for the lost?

(35) Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. (36) When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (37) Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. (38) Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

I think sometimes my compassion for the lost is only surface level. I don't think this attitude is intentional. It's like when you see those commercials for orphans that are always sad and depressing, but then you get distracted and kind of forget about them. I think I can be a little compassion ADD, if you will. My heart DOES break for the lost, but when it comes to doing something, I'm scared, too busy, or just plain lazy. I need to start working towards being one of the workers in this plentiful harvest. People ARE hungry. People ARE lost and they ARE looking for something to fill the void in their heart. So many times they turned to the wrong things, how many of those times was it possible for us, as the workers, to possibly prevent some of that? I know I need to make more of a conscious effort.

I'm so excited that this summer I'll be somewhat forced to learn to deal with my fear and laziness when it comes to talking to people. It's really hard for me to maintain friendships. I've been burned a lot in the past with friends who only want to talk and not listen. They ended up sucking the life out of me. It's a stronghold I need to get past because not everyone is going to do that to me and I need to give people a chance before I label them. I really hope that my friendship building skills grow a lot this summer and I'll kind of learn how to do that all over again. I know that I have friends now that would be here for me in a heartbeat. Sometimes I just have a hard time realizing it.

Anyways... that was a really random tangent at the end. Isn't it fun when God leads you to a passage to make you realize something else in the chain of events of your mind? lol.

A little sidenote.

This is my address and the place I'm staying in Australia.
42 Denison St.
Newcastle NSW 2303

Our hostel: newcastlebackpackers.com

Seeing the hostel got me more excited about going. We're just a few blocks from the beach too, I'm really excited to spend time with God by the ocean... it was so much fun to do that during Spring Break, so I'm ready to do it again for sure!

:)