Are They Worth It?

Are They Worth It?

A terrible and curious question… are they worth it? 

Just because they live in the slums and don’t have food everyday … does that make them worth it? 

Just because they live with disease, drunks, death, devastating disappointments and constant injustice … does that make them worth it? 

If we leave our closest friends, our hard earned security, our comforts and ease…. are they really worth doing so?

Should we forfeit our rest and retirement, the reward of our life long hard work … just because they need us?

 If we leave our children and grandchildren and suffer them our absence … are they still worth it? Should we just accept the terrible ache of missing the wonderful hugs, their precious smiles and the joy of being able to watch them grow up… is that even right?

Is it right that because of our absence, we should cause those at home such longing, such pain… such hardships…, whom we love so much? Are they worth it? 

Is it just us that we forsake the country of our birth, the family we love, the culture we are familiar with, to live in such poverty… such dangerous, unfamiliar, insecure, threatening circumstances … just for them?

Are they worth it?

Should I watch my wife, in her ‘golden years’, give up her strength, vigour… her very life, to the never ending flow of needy people who are constantly before us? 

Do we have to be there, when their fathers and mothers abandon them…

when they become pregnant… contaminated with fatal diseases… ravished and abused by those they should have been able to trust?

Do we owe them some sort of debt, because we have been so blessed by God? Why must we be here?

The answer of course is yes… because... if not us … then who? If not now … then when?

The answer to why is found in this…

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel “ (God is with us). Isaiah 7:14 

We didn’t need a new teaching, tract or book on discipleship, we didn’t need a new religion… we needed … Oh, how we needed … a presence… someone to be with us… someone to stay with us! 

Are they worth it? He seemed to think so. That’s why He came... and that's why we are here.

This Christmas remember … The gift our beloved King brought us… was Himself. We needed His presence, we needed Him. May all of us who call ourselves Immanuel’s disciples, follow in His footsteps. This Christmas take the time to give your family, friends and the needy around you … the very best gift you can give them … give them you. And remember to pray for missionaries all around this world who must answer these questions every single day. 

 Have a spiritually blessed Christmas and a Kingdom advancing New Year… from Dave and Cyndy Taylor and the entire StoneHouse Family.