The Emancipation

Today is Shine a Light on Slavery Day. The End It movement website posted this encouraging charge: "Let’s be the generation to stand up for the 27 million men, women and children trapped in slavery around the world today. In brothels. In factories. In mines. On street corners. In homes. In the shadows, hidden. Yet out in broad daylight, in plain sight here in America. Stand with us. Raise your voice. Use your influence. Join the fight for FREEDOM."

That's awesome, and what an incredible cause! However, I can't help but stop and think about the other kind of slavery that we are experiencing in our world today. There are 27 million people trapped in physical slavery, but there are 4 billion bound up in darkness. 

Statistics show that there are 4 billion people on this earth who have either never surrendered their lives to, nor ever even heard about Jesus Christ. That is 4 billion people who know not of the reason they were created. That is 4 billion people who have no hope for a future. That is 4 billion people who are lost in darkness. That is 4 billion people who Jesus laid down his life for.

Our job as believers is to be the statistic changers. The charge that has been given to each one of us is to share with the world the truth of who God is in our lives; to share with the world the hope that burns on the inside of us. There are lost people in the jungles of South America; there are hopeless people on the plains of Africa; there are even people living in darkness on the streets of East Texas. Our job as believers is to be the emancipators. 

It is crucial that we understand that slavery to sin knows no borders-- it is not considerate of cultures. Therefore, it is crucial that we understand that the Gospel knows no borders-- neither is it considerate of cultures. The Gospel is for the world, therefore we must be for the world. We must listen for God's direction for our lives and then respond to that direction no matter where it may lead us. We must be as content to serve in the White House as we would be to serve in the dumps of Ethiopia. Our job is not to be the critic of where God sends us. It is simply to find out where that place is and then to pour out our lives for the people there. 

There are people in chains waiting to be set free on the other side of your obedience.