As I was walking around the supermarket, I began to notice that people were looking at me in a strange way (it may surprise you to know that this is an unusual experience for me). Although it took me a while, I eventually worked out the reason why!
My daughter had brought her toy doll and she had left her in the child seat of the trolley while she had wandered off to look at something else (I expect there was chocolate involved!)
It must have been strange for the other customers who were probably wondering what kind of man brings a baby doll with him to the supermarket!
When I realized what was happening, I called for my daughter and got her to stay with me and everything was back to normal (although I’m not sure if there is any such thing as normal!)
I was thinking about this just now and I was reminded of a video that a friend of mind had shared on Facebook about why people follow Jesus. I was embarrassed to be walking around with a doll (and with good reason!) but do I ever feel that way about Jesus?
These are the reasons that the people give on the video for following Jesus (Transcript taken from greatcommission.co.uk/share-your-story)
– I think everyone in life is trying to make it through, and Jesus helps me to make it through.
– My Lord is the one who gives me hope for the future, purpose for living now.
– In life we face a lot of challenges, but being present with Jesus gives me that confidence to keep going.
– As a barrister, Jesus gives me peace in literally every situation.
– Jesus is always there, and he offers me forgiveness and life and life in abundance.
– Jesus has made an incredible difference to me.
He’s given back my self-esteem.
– I look back at the key moments of joy in my life, and also the key moments of hard times in my life, and Jesus has been my everything through all of that.
– I can never be lonely because he’s with me all the time.
So, it’s an ongoing, living, intimate friendship.
There’s guidance for every day, there’s peace, there’s comfort, so it’s a very real dynamic friendship.
– I discover a peace no matter what I go through in life but also I discover my purpose, who I am and what I’m here on earth for.
I’ve got a hope for now, but also for all of eternity.
– He’s my friend, he’s always there for me.
He’s the one that I can be the most vulnerable with and myself with every day.
– And so, actually, I’ve given my life to sharing that story.
I think that this video and the project behind it is a superb idea. It is so simple to share our story about why we follow Jesus and why he means so much to us, but sometimes we reluctant to do this becasue we are embarrassed about this.
For anyone who would have asked why I was pushing a doll around a supermarket, there was a simple explanation.
For anyone who finds it strange that people follow Jesus, there are many simple explanations but if we don’t tell them what they are, then how will those people know.
Having my daughter with me made it normal to have a doll in the trolley.
When we tell our story and people can see and hear the difference that Jesus has made and is making in our lives then it will make much more sense to them why we follow him.
Perhaps it’s time for us to become more honest about our faith!
Honest about my faith 