Maybe you think your life is boring. Maybe you are just bored. The funny thing is, you are not alone! You have no idea how many people identify with that same feeling. Even more interesting, is how many people wish their life was boring! Maybe they have family drama, or work problems, name a relationship and they are struggling. That friend needs the hope that you have.
So my question to you is this: “Is your Sparkle shinning for those who are hurting around you?”
Jesus chose some pretty boring men to be His confidants. They were uneducated, hard working guys. They were fisherman. I would think their lives were so routine. Up before dawn to hit the water before it got too hot. Sit in the boat, throw nets out pull them in, empty them – hopefully. REPEAT. Wow that sounds like my mundane life.
It is in that middle of their mundane lives that Jesus found them. He did not come to them as a salesman, he simply invited them to join him. And they did. No one hesitated. Think about this new job. Was there a corner office with a window? No. A huge sign on bonus? No. Immediate insurance coverage and 2 weeks of vacation? No. But, what they did get, was a front row seat to see the long awaited Messiah reveal His glory! The sick healed, the blind given sight, even dead raised back to life! Time alone with Him where He explained who He was and the meaning behind the parables He told. They watched Jesus as He gave His life up on the cross, saw the empty tomb and the resurrected Christ! They received the Great Commission in person!
My point is that Jesus met these normal boring men, in their everyday life. And He transformed them, gradually and continually! He revealed Himself to them and changed their hearts and minds. Maybe you remember, Jesus told them to follow Him and He would “make them fishers of men” (Mark 1:17). I imagine they had no idea what Jesus meant that day. Maybe they didn’t know until several years later. But, I am a product of that mundane obedience!
Have you ever considered that thought? As a Gentile – a non-Jewish believer, your belief is a result of the obedience of Peter, Andrew and John- all of them! They Sparkled because they spent time with Jesus.
Eventually those around them called out when they needed hope!
In Acts 10:36-43 you can read about Dorcas.When she died, Peter was close by and her friends called on him. In that moment, we see Peter’s Sparkle as he trusted in Jesus to bring Dorcas back from death to life! My favorite verse is 42, where it says “it became known…and many believed in the Lord”. The Sparkle expands and grows.
Think back to that boring job, the tedious work of cleaning and repairing nets daily. Peter, exchanged that for Sparkle that gave Light to those around him, simply by spending time with Jesus, getting to know Him being available in his every day life to be used. Through that obedience, the Light was spread to the entire world even through generations, to me and to you.
Are you willing to spend time with Jesus? Just a few moments every day. Sit with Him, get to know Him through the Word, learn who He is and ask Him to reveal His glory to you and in you, so that your Sparkle (His light in you) will give hope to those you see in your mundane life. Your family in your home, the cashier you are on a first name basis with at the grocery, the mailman, the lady at the dry cleaner, the neighbor boy who mows your lawn. Ask God to let them see your Sparkle, to let them ask about the hope you have. Then open your mouth, be available, and He will do the work.
