As Jesus went about the Galilean countryside, he taught and cured the people’s diseases. In my last blog I mentioned that he used the powers he possessed, miraculous as they were, in daily circumstances, to help those he loved. Acknowledging that his healings, his supernatural control of the physical world and his raising the dead as gifts that belong only to God, what, you might ask, can we do that would even come close to comparing with what Jesus could do.
Well, we might start by considering that we have exactly the same amount of time each day that Jesus had. The choice is ours as to how we spend each minute of each day. The more Christ like we are, the more minutes we use in assisting others we encounter. We may not be able to reverse their illnesses or rescue them from unforgiving elements or even raise their departed children from the dead, but we can comfort and assist with the resources that are available to us. We can share our presence in times of sorrow, a bite to eat when hungry, a drink when thirsty and encouraging words to soothe troubled souls.
Additionally, by the force of sheer numbers, Christians today have immeasurably more total time than Jesus and his disciples had. The sum of our efforts can provide infinitely more sustenance, solace, shelter and encouragement to a lonely and hurting world. Maybe our efforts are individually less dramatic than Jesus’ Godly powers, but even the cures that Jesus effected were as temporary as any aid we provide. All those he helped eventually died and natural disasters and disease still claim their toll.
In a different manner, modern Christianity as a whole has financial wealth beyond those that Jesus and his disciples had. They were a vagabond group that lived from day to day on limited funds. We on the other hand, are rich by comparison. Just by pooling our excess monies, we can deploy material blessings that dwarf what Jesus chose to use.
So what can we do to emulate the ministry of Jesus? Millions of believers can provide billions of minutes and dollars of assistance and it doesn’t take a herculean effort either. Just each one of us choosing each day to spend some of our available resources living beyond our own self interests. Such is the nature of spiritual salt.