Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
I couldn't help but to think of this scripture last night. As some of us were cleaning up in the fellowship hall after our youth activity last night, my cell phone rang and the fire chief was calling to ask me about the wreck that had just happened in front of our church. Well, I was oblivious and had no clue what he was talking about. I knew my husband was not around, but I had figured he was on the phone or in his office. When I went outside and seen all the lights and vehicles, I was shocked. I told them I'd call them back...they were in a neighboring town running errands but had heard it on the scanner and knew it was our church and wanted to be sure it wasn't any of our youth involved.
First, let me tell you that it was a miracle these youth were not hurt very seriously or for that matter even killed. The four youth in one vehicle were turning into our church driveway to turn around when a young man who had been drinking did not see the vehicle's turn signal and tried to pass them, thus sending them airborn and into the large ditch in front of our church. Their car was slanting and barely on stable ground, almost rolling into the ditch. The officer told us that one to two inches over and the car would have flipped and probably killed them all. The other truck landed about three feet in front of our church sign, after going across the ditch. They all are very blessed to have missed the ditch, or things could have been very bad.
Anyway, the reason I thought of this scripture was because as we were standing there talking to the parents of these teens, one of the ladies looked at me and said, "There's something different about you guys. You're all so nice and kind to us here tonight. Not judgemental or preachy." I can't tell you the mixed emotions that went through me at that moment! First, I knew that she was referring to the fact that we all knew that the one young man had been drinking...the smell was horrible and so obvious...yet we had chosen not to point that fact out and ridicule him for his choices. We were there to help and to wait and to show them the Father's love!
Can I just go off on a soapbox for a moment here? Sometimes I think we forget about the 'God is Love' part of the Bible! Seriously, we can have everything in our life perfect, we can know the Bible from front to back, dress modestly like a christian, talk like a christain, BUT if we do all this without the LOVE part...People know the difference if you love them or not. They know if you truly care that they are not hurt. They know. You can't fool people on the love part!
Now, was I saddened by the fact that this young man had chosen to drink and drive...YES! But would it have helped the situation any at all by choosing to point that fact out and point out the obvious? I think not. I can tell you, because I was there that the alchol issue was something on the mind of all five of these teens involved! See, there is a huge problem in this small town with alchol and driving. We've lost too many youth to this issue just since we have been here! The young man had been drinking, BUT...the other four teens in the accident were headed to a bonfire party for homecoming...where drinking is known to happen!
I believe our job for the night was to put something positive into their lives. To show them a little love and that there is a better way to life. I can only hope that somewhere in the conversation and time we spent with them that we made them thirsty for something different. I can only hope that they felt the true love and concern and care about them. I can only hope that they could see the relief and thankfulness on my face that none of them were hurt tonight. I can only hope...and pray...that I sprinkled a little salt into a life tonight.
Salt makes the body thirsty. For water. Do I make people thirsty? For Living Water???
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