Some time back as I was waiting for my office bus at the Bus Stop, I saw a small family sitting on the pavement near the Stop. There were four people, a mother and her three children. They seemed pretty poor. The kids were really small. The eldest must have been about 5 years old, the second kid around 3 and the third one must have been just a few months and a very small baby and still in her mother's lap. They sat in a small bunch by the side of the road.
The eldest girl (who was about 5 years old) went somewhere and came back with a banana. She broke it into two halves and gave one half to the kid who was 3 years old. And then she went on to pinch a bit of banana off the other half left in her hand and then she crushed it between her fingers, and was trying to give that to the baby on her mother's lap. The baby was very small and was trying to push this girl's hand off. The baby probably hadn't ever tasted a banana before and probably had no idea what the elder sister was trying to feed it. It was crying and trying to push the girl's hands off by waving its small hands in front of her. But the elder sister just kept persisting in trying to push the crushed piece of banana into the baby's mouth.
I just stood there watching this scene with rapt attention. The baby had begun to cry loudly now and was still trying everything to push its elder sister's hand away but the elder sister was persistent. And since the elder sister was persistent and ofcourse she was stronger as well, she managed to finally stuff the banana into the baby's mouth. The baby was still crying and making a noise though now she began slowly tasting the sweetness of this fruit, which she probably was tasting for the first time in her life. And in few seconds the scene had completely changed - Now it was the baby who was jumping at the elder sister asking for more. The baby had tasted the fruit and had enjoyed its sweetness and now wanted more. Just a few minutes back the same baby who was doing every thing to push the fruit away, was now actually jumping and asking for more and would not sit quietly even till it had finished eating the bite in its mouth. It just wanted more and more.
As I stood watching this scene, I realised a few things. The elder sister had tasted the fruit and loved the taste and knew that the baby would love the taste as well. It was love for her baby sister that drove the elder sister to force the fruit into her mouth till the baby finally tasted it. She could very well have chosen to leave the baby alone since it was so troublesome and eat the fruit all on her own but No, she didn't do that. It was like - ' I have tasted it and I have enjoyed it and now since I love you, I want you to enjoy its goodness as well'. She realised the baby was ignorant and persisted in giving the fruit to the baby knowing full well that once the baby had tasted the fruit, she would love it as well and want more.
I realised how much of a relevance this had in our spiritual world as well. We have tasted the goodness of Jesus in our lives. We have tasted his goodness and his love. We have tasted his forgiveness and have got freedom from our sins by paying and doing nothing. We have gained immensely from his death on the cross. We have gained as he took all our sins and our shame and our pain and carried them himself. We have gained because even now he daily carries our burdens for us and in its stead blesses us with his joy and love and peace. We have tasted his miracles and his deliverance from sickness and sin, from problem and pestilence, from trails and temptations.
There are so many friends and relatives that we have, whom we claim to love a lot. Do we share, what we have found to fill our lives with so much and goodness and love, with them? If we don't share, we don't truly love them. The elder sister was sharing (or rather forcing) the banana to the baby because of the love she had for her.
Probably our friends or relatives might not like it when we want them to experience the same goodness and love that we have experienced in Jesus but we need to persist. Persist in sharing and praying and in loving and eventually like the baby, some day they would taste the same goodness and then would want more and more on their own. Till then keep sharing and praying.
My life has been blessed so much by his goodness and his love and his joy and his peace, so much that I cannot even imagine what my life would be without Him. And I know he feels happy when I enjoy myself in his love and goodness and I also know that he is happier when I help and want for others to experience the same love and goodness.
This brings to my mind a beautiful song which is sung often at Billy Graham Crusades:
Pass It On
Words and music by Kurt Kaiser
It only takes a spark to get a fire going,And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing;
That's how it is with God's Love,Once you've experienced it,
Your spread the love to everyoneYou want to pass it on.
What a wondrous time is spring,When all the tress are budding
The birds begin to sing, the flowers start their blooming;T
hat's how it is with God's love,Once you've experienced it.
You want to sing, it's fresh like spring,You want to pass it on.
I wish for you my friendThis happiness that I've found;
You can depend on GodIt matters not where you're bound,
I'll shout it from the mountain top I want the world to know
The Lord of love has come to meI want to pass it on.
(Refer http://my.homewithgod.com/heavenlymidis2/pass.html)
John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Psalm 34:8 - O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good! Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him.
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