1%… painful…
Martin is quite passionate about trains. Whenever we travel and spot a train, we have to go check it out. If there’s a (model) railway event or anything train-related in the city, there’s no stopping him—he has to go!
If help is needed for a (model) railway event, he signs up— even if no help is requested, he still signs up, because well… ‘it’s for the hobby!’
When someone visits our home, there’s no escaping it. The models, books, and photos are scattered everywhere. Whether the guests are interested or not, the (model) railway ‘propaganda’ is unavoidable.
The model railway fairs he attends are usually PACKED. Crowds everywhere, busy! Anyone with even the slightest interest in trains clears their schedules, sometimes traveling across the country to attend (traveling from abroad is not an exception either). Everything is set aside for that passion.
A while ago, there was a gathering on development, aid, and mission work at a church we sometimes visit. It was a chance to learn more about the subject, with literature available, people ready to explain more, and there was time for conversation and prayer. The church typically has about 100 people on a Sunday. It was announced well in advance—months ahead—through flyers, colorful publications, the website, and newsletters. Everything was well-organized.
Excluding the organizers, exactly one person showed up… Just one.
There were five people ready to manage everything that evening, all set for conversations, with coffee waiting.
And only one visitor came… that’s 1% of the usual Sunday attendance at that church.
What is your passion? What are your choices? Where do your real priorities lie? Do we say on Sunday that something is our passion, but when it comes to our daily lives, it turns out not to be?
One percent… painful. Especially when I see that the passion of my (mostly non-Christian) model railway friends is many (!!) times greater than the passion we saw in this group for doing things that truly matter…
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor, 11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, (Romans 12:10-12)
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going. (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
Do you not say, ‘There are still four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I tell you, raise your eyes and observe the fields, that they are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the one who sows and the one who reaps may rejoice together. For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have come into their labor. (John 4:35-38)
