The Ultimate Relationship
We have complete freedom to do as we choose. So where does God’s Divine Will, His Providence, fit in? You know what the hard answer is? Nobody totally knows; it’s a mystery. It’s beyond our ability to comprehend, but we can still know it as true.
“See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil… I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day… therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him…” (Deut. 30:15-20). Here we see an instance where God, through the prophet Moses, invites us to choose exercise our free will. “A man’s heart
deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.” (Prov. 16:9) Here we see that God’s Sovereignty is always present. We cannot deny that God is in control of all things. But how the two work together is a mystery. How God writes history using human choices is beyond me, however, that He does it is not.
A consequence of this line of thinking, then, is that we cannot pass through this life, having tasted of the salvation that God has given us without sharing that Love with others. God has placed us in the many and varied environments we are in (be it family, work, school, sports teams, friends, etc.) for the sake of sharing with them the hope of God’s mercy; an Ultimate Relationship with Jesus Christ.
We can’t argue, “Well, if God wants to save that person, and if He’s in charge of everything, then He’ll do it with or without me.” NO! The very fact that we are in the relationships we are in, speaks plainly of the desire the Father has for all those souls. We’re the instrument of His mercy and proclamation.
But… but… that’s not easy… No, it isn’t. In the last 3 years that I’ve worked for CCO I’ve tried to avoid using a little booklet called, “the Ultimate Relationship”. I have never been convicted of the necessity to use it. I thought that I would sound like a used-car salesman. And so it’s sat in my backpack gathering dust. However, I was particularly inspired by the stories of a young woman on CCO’s World Youth Day Mission team who made it a priority to use it whether she was comfortable doing it or not. And so, I have made a commitment to share the UR with everyone I meet from our outreach tables and surveys. This semester alone, I have shared the Ultimate Relationship more than I had over my entire Missionary service and almost everyone I have shared it with has either dedicated or re-dedicated their life to the Lord with it (with the exception of one). I now know that I need to share Christ with everyone I meet, and the UR is a valuable and effective tool for communicating it clearly and simply so that the person hearing can come to know the Love of God in an intimate way!
As I walk down the halls of SFU the thought going through my mind is, “Who’s next?”
http://www.cco.ca/UR/ENG/book.swf