I was pondering recently about how not all people want to be found by God. They are happy to remain lost and dirty, disconnected and without place in the kingdom of God. In the great effort to promote the Gospel around the world we must search for those who are ready to be found.
One summer day I scanned up and down Conimicut Beach searching for an object to paste in my notebook. With more leisure time during my sabbatical my daughters got me into this habit of searching for and collecting found papers and breathing meaning into them in the wider context of my journals.
After much searching a bubble gum wrapper finally jumped out at me. I love the superhero colors. I drew it from the sand, unwrinkled it, cleaned it off and then displayed it in my little kingdom. It now exists no longer as trash but as treasure. It has been rescued from an aimless existence and has been exalted to bring pleasure to me. It now lives close to me and has been included in my purposes.
Jesus said that there are many people in the world that are ripe for salvation. In other words, there are people around us in our neighborhoods, our families, our cities that are ready to be picked. A process has been done in the secret recesses of the heart to bring them to a point of being ripe. From birth the Spirit works in people to soften them and bring them to a place of readiness for Christ. Often hardship, loss, fear, struggle and relationships work to soften a person over many years. Life wears down our resistance and puts us in a place of humility and willingness.
This ripe soul will always be deeply effected by the message of Jesus. Others can hear the same message and shrug it off but they come alive inside. It rings true. It’s the fragrance of life. To them it’s not just some religious teaching but it is the Maker calling them home. The heart wells up with longing to be known by this Father above and because the heart is wide open it becomes the object of the unleashing of divine love. The ripe soul is picked and placed into the family of God forever. Fear of death is gone. The search is over. This is what we were created for. - Scott A