You are our hope, our joy, and the crown we will take pride in when our Lord Jesus Christ comes. (1 Thessalonians 2:19)As the year winds down and Christmas approaches, I'm catching visions of people from my past... people who have made a difference in my life, and some for whom (hopefully) I've made a difference in theirs.
I think about Evelyn Musolff, who was my Sunday School teacher when I was 8. I'll never forget her. Or Larry Best, another Sunday School teacher when I was a pre-teen. I remember him taking me and a friend trout fishing on opening day. I think of Beverly Kerstetter, my piano teacher, who confessed to me years later that every week as I played, she sat next to me praying God would use my music for his kingdom. And of course there was my mom and dad. From my mom I learned a subtle lesson of how to persevere when things aren't going my way, and in a more overt way my dad was the greatest spiritual influence in my life.
This Thessalonians passage reminds me that bank accounts, fancy cars, media broadcasts and publishing deals are not how I measure my impact as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When I stand before God, my reward will be Christ, and the changed lives of those connected to him because I was available when they needed me.
Who has touched your life? Whose life have you touched?
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