My REACH is a Reflection

It’s not always comfortable or convenient to reach out for something.

Jonah experienced this first hand.  In Jonah 1:1-3, God called Jonah to go and bring His message to the people of Nineveh.  Jonah wasn’t comfortable with this proposition.  It wasn’t convenient either.  So he split.

The amazing truth weaved throughout the story of Jonah is that God is continually reaching out to Jonah.  God was also wanting to reach out to the people of Nineveh.

Our willingness to reach says a lot about us.  Our reach is a reflection.  As Christians we are called to reach UP and to reach OUT.  When we reach UP we find our source that empowers us to reach out.

Here is a simple thought I have been thinking about:

It’s hard to reach OUT without reaching UP.
It’s hard to continue to reach UP and not be moved to reach OUT.

A few years back I saw the movie the iHeart Revolution.  I heard a quote that has stuck with me…

“If what we are doing in our churches isn’t making a difference in the street we drive down to get there, then maybe we are missing the point.”

As the church we must remember the key to us reaching out to the world around us is first found in reaching UP.  But if we find ourselves simply reaching UP each week, without a stirring to reach OUT, something might need to be adjusted…quickly.

My REACH is a reflection of…

Priority
Whatever is important to me, I will find a way to reach out to it.

Motivation
I have to be motivated to reach.  No motivation will usually result in no action.

Insight
If I understand how the reach will help, encourage, strengthen, build, etc. my life, I will be willing to take the effort to reach.

In our student ministry, Eastridge Youth, we have a simple vision: Know Jesus and Make Him Known.  It is why we exist.  It is why we do what we do.  Even within that vision both sides of our REACH are expressed:

Know Jesus (UP), Make Him Known (OUT)

Our source for reaching OUT is found in reaching UP.  Why Not Reach?