the investment

And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.

Acts 12:25

Where would I be without the people God put into my life who invested in my Christian growth? God placed a vacation Bible school worker in my life to keep me focused for a week until a gospel story lesson broke through and convicted me of my need for Jesus’ forgiveness. She prayed with me when by faith I turned to Jesus for forgiveness. Where would I be without her faithful service in a first grade VBS classroom?

Where would I be without a telephone network repairman who was also an AWANA worker who took me out for ice cream and invested time with me when my mom was sick and my dad was pre-occupied with caring for her while trying to provide for us? That man taught me that men in the church could be caregivers and spiritual dads too! 

Where would I be without a group of youth workers who invested heavily in me when I was a young teenager with a goofy grin and a “not so serious” attitude about life who needed to learn how to follow Jesus by their examples? Where would I be without a youth pastor who at that time taught the youth group how to dig into and LOVE scripture for themselves and spent hours of time investing in me one-to-one, seeing something others did not see?

Where would I be without Christian school teachers who didn’t just educate me, but were example of believers and patiently discipled me too? Where would I be without Bible College and seminary profs who did the same? What about pastors who gave me preaching reps in their pulpits? What about missionaries who let me live with them and serve alongside them?

I needed every one of those experiences as the pathway to fill my life with kingdom service. And each of those relationships turned a young “John Mark”-ish immature kid into a much more serious follower of Jesus. I needed to be invested into and at the time, probably looked like a very risky investment. Thank God some people took that risk! Thank God there are still people and relationships God uses to mature me, And for that reason, I hope to always invest, best as I can, even with difficulties, with sacrifice and commitment, in others.