IWJT Throwback: Warning: Don’t Miss the Moments Jesus Is Sending You Into the World

As we head into the Advent Season, I wanted to share another “I Was Just Thinking…” Throwback - one of my dad's original posts that I'm resharing because it still resonates. He taught me to notice God in everyday moments, and I'm honored to carry on his tradition

This piece comes from October 22, 2013. While it originally appeared without a title, I have given it the title "Warning: Don't Miss the Moments Jesus Is Sending You Into the World". The message is clear: a simple moment of watching students walk home from school becomes a reminder of the mission Jesus gives each of us.

As always, Dad had a way of seeing something ordinary and drawing out something eternal.

As with the other IWJT Throwbacks, I’ve made light formatting and spelling edits and added photos and links for clarity. But every idea and every line remains his.

I pray this reflection encourages you today as much as it encouraged me while preparing it.

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While working from home the other day, I was sitting at the dining room table with the blinds open. My attention was drawn to the outside as a group of young people returning home from school passed. I could not hear them but watched as they positioned themselves for the walk.

They were all in a group, but they were talking in pairs, groups of twos; then, at the end of the sidewalk, they all stopped together, grouped up, and then went in about 12 different directions.

It did not take long before the story of Jesus sending out the group of seventy-two people into the world to proclaim the power and message of God came to mind.

I love the account found in the Gospel of Luke chapter 10, verses 1 and 2. It goes like this, “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

So many things happen in chapter ten of Luke, but just before Jesus sends out the seventy-two, He had taught the crowd about the cost of following Jesus. That there is a price we all pay, things we give up or sacrifice in order to follow Christ with all our heart.

That group of young people was just enjoying their afternoon, catching up on the happenings of their day together, and then they split to go to the next step.

Jesus gathered the group, taught them and then sent them out separately into a lost world. Each one of them was assigned the task of going into the world and sharing what Jesus meant to them and how He had changed their lives.

In verse three, He warns them that it will not be easy. He tells them that they will be like “lambs among wolves.”

I really wondered if those young people shared their conversation with others that day. If they talked about the things they seemed so excited about as I was watching them.

Christ has done a wonderful thing for us by dying on the cross. He paid the price for the forgiveness of our sins, yet we often forget to tell others what it really means to us.

It is easy to talk about as we walk along with other church friends and Christians, but once we are out on our own we get shy and quiet about the love of Jesus.

If you love Jesus and follow His teaching, then you are expected to be one of the seventy-two in today’s world. If you don’t follow the teachings of Jesus, then let me be the one to tell you it is a wonderful life of peace and assurance. That Jesus loves you unconditionally and wants to have a real and personal relationship with you.

If some Christian is not talking to you, find one you know who is a Christian and ask them about it. They should have a great story to tell!

Anyway, I was just thinking...

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Rev. Dr. Billy Hutchinson (1956-2015)

Creator of I Was Just Thinking...

Thanks for teaching me to notice, Dad!