Influence?

A few years ago we attended a remembrance service for a good friend. His life had been one of reaching out to others and in particular to a young man who at 18 years of age had been sent to prison for murdering a 16 year old girl. His influence upon this boy's life and the lives of everyone he invited to support this young person is beyond measure.

The unique thing about this remembrance service was that our friend was in attendance. We had a funeral for him before he passed away. Fragile and weak because of his cancer, he smiled as people came to the front of the church to thank him for his influence upon their lives and the lives of so many others.

One speaker really struck a cord with the hundreds of people sitting in the pews. She opened her tribute to our friend with a request, "If you remember who won the Oscar for Best Actor ten years ago please raise your hand?" Only a couple of hands went up. "If you remember who won the Super Bowl seven years ago please raise your hands?" A few more hands went up. "Do you remember a sports coach who gave you some extra attention and helped improve your game?" Over half of the crowd put up their hands. "Do you remember the name of your favourite teacher who made a significant impact on your life? Almost all the hands went up. Her point was easily understood and obviously applied to our friend who was being honoured. Fame is fleeting. "Real Life" is about relationships. "Real Life" involves being influenced and being influential within a network of loving, forgiving, and compassionate relationships. It starts with our relationship with God and overflows into our relationships with others. The Bible calls this living body of relationships the "Kingdom of God".

Abraham is the father of this "Real Life". God blessed Abraham (God was a good influence upon him) so that he and his decendants could be a blessing (a good influence) upon the whole world. What started with Abraham was completed in Jesus. Through trust and faith in Jesus we have full access to this "Real Life" or "Eternal Life" as the Bible calls it. There is no other person in all of history who can match the influence of Jesus. No other faith offers what God has done for us through Jesus: (1) He lived on earth as God-the-Son, as God-with-us. (2) Through His death and resurrection He overcame the destructive power of sin. (3) He was victorious over death, and (4) He is willing to enter into our hearts and take up permanent residence. If we open the door and invite him in He will raise us up to new life - to "Real Life" with Him forever.

No other faith in the world accomplishes what Jesus does for us. The acronym "L. O. V. E." helps me to remember this: Lived as God-with-us, Overcame sin, Victorious over death, and Enters into our hearts.