Move on… let’s get back to the mission.
Move on… we have no time to stop.
Move on… we have to make sure we get to our destination.
Move on… we can’t let the devil distract us.
Move on… we have to stay focused on whats ahead.
Sometimes we get so caught up in what is ahead, on the final destination, on moving forward, that we miss out on this moment.
We miss out on the people God places on our path to be touched by Him.
We miss out on the life that can be changed with a smile, with a hug, with a simple phrase like “I love you”.
We miss out on the blessing of being inspired by others.
We miss out on the joy that comes from sharing God’s love and compassion.
We miss out in seeing Jesus in others and allowing others to see Jesus in us.
As I read about the life of Jesus, I realize His concern was not to move forward, to move on with the mission, but to show the world that each life is precious. Each life deserves our love and attention. Each life merits our compassion and acceptance. His mission was the present moment. His mission was people.
Jesus was never too busy to take time out for children.
Jesus was never too focused on the mission that He could not stop and tell a woman that had touched the hem of His garment that her faith had healed her.
Jesus was never in a hurry to move on that He could not stand up for a woman caught in adultery.
Jesus was never more concerned about moving on that He could not stop and eat with sinners.
Sometimes I wonder if this phrase “let’s move on” is hurting us more than it is helping us.
By moving on, where are we heading? Isn’t the mission supposed to be about people? People that need Jesus now?
Could it be, just maybe, that this is a way to actually avoid doing something for those that are hurting and needing our compassion because we just don’t know how to do it and it scares us?
Could it be, just maybe, that this is a way to avoid reaching out to those that think, look and believe differently to us, because we do not want others to think we are mixing with the ‘world’?
Our world is hurting. Our world needs love and compassion desperately. Our world needs to hear about Jesus and experience his grace today. Our world is here and now.
We cannot afford to avoid the needs of this world; we need to stop, love, heal, and touch many lives like Jesus did.
We cannot afford to avoid people that are not like us; we need to talk, share and eat with them like Jesus did.
We cannot afford to avoid listening and taking time out for someone different; we need to be like Jesus and the Samaritan woman.
I don’t want to be so focused on moving on that I avoid dealing with the real issues that the world is facing now.
I don’t want to be so busy moving forward that I get too busy to care about people.
Because I know, there will come a time, when I will need someone to stop and listen to me not someone that is ‘moving on’.
There will come a time when I will need someone to lean on, not someone so focused on what’s ahead that they can’t see how much I need a hand.
There will come a time when I will need someone to show they care, not someone so concerned about the mission ahead that they end up ignoring me.
You see, if the mission was to move on, then I guess Jesus did a lousy job at demonstrating it.
If the mission was to move on, then maybe Jesus would have passed us by and moved on to the next world as we are pretty hopeless.
I am so thankful God takes the time to actually stop and listen to us; He takes the time to love us, and He took the time to come to this helpless world and save us. I am so grateful that His mission is us!
‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ Matthew 25:45
