WHERE THE ACTION IS
By Erwin Bourne—February 15, 2002
We must see things from God’s perspective. We need to
set our sights on the realities of heaven. Jesus
taught his disciples to pray: Thy will be done on
earth as it is in heaven. Are we spiritually-minded?
Do we see God’s majesty? My physical eyesight is
gradually growing weaker. But I need to see things as
God sees them. The other morning while sitting out on
the riverfront, a very small frog hopped up onto the
veranda. I pointed it out to Jean. Just then a
gavilan (a small hawk) flew from a distant tree,
swerved beneath the veranda roof, and snatched up the
small creature while on the wing. I wish I had like
eyesight. Spiritually, I need to see earth as Jesus
sees it from heaven where he sits at the right hand of
the Father.
The apostle Paul urged us: Don’t shuffle along, eyes
to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front
of you. Look up and be alert to the things going on
around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things
from his perspective (Col. 3:1-2 MSG).
I’ve observed that when I am studying a new mission
project, I get a much clearer perspective when I am on
the site. I recall standing on a high promontory
above Mexico City. I was with two other missionaries.
It was night. The lights of this mega-city stretched
on and on like the one-time lakebed on which it was
built. We were gazing down on twenty million people.
Jesus sees this earth from his throne at the right
hand of God.
I cannot expect many of you to get a grasp of
missions. You have not traveled the mightiest of
earth’s rivers. You have not visited the primitive
tribesmen in their palm-thatched communities, nor been
immersed in some of the grand cities like Iquitos.
You have not heard their cries in the night, nor sat
up at their midnight wakes, nor felt the hopelessness
of lost souls.
While the souls of men are dying,
And the Master calls for you,
Let none hear you idly saying,
“There is nothing I can do!”
Yours for OUTREACH AMAZON
—Erwin and Jean Bourne