Who would have thought you could use Rugrats to explain the Gospel?

I woke up this morning at 3:30, and could NOT fall back asleep. This is kind of unusual for me, but I tried to make the best of it. My sister has given me her Netflix password, and I have definitely been taking advantage of it! Since I couldn’t fall asleep, I got on Netflix and played an episode of Rugrats. In this particular episode, Chuckie thought he had gotten the maple tree in the back yard “sick” because the leaves were changing colors and falling off the tree. The babies tried tirelessly to save this tree! They tried juice, medicine, even gluing the leaves back on, but nothing worked! As they mourned the loss of the tree, I was thinking about how the next spring, the tree would grow back all of its leaves. But, despite our best efforts, we are unable to prevent the leaves from falling, and likewise unable to initiate their re-growth in the spring. We don’t have that kind of power!
Likewise, we often try to save ourselves from our own sin. We try to cover it up, use self-help strategies and will-power; but like the babies efforts to “heal” the tree, our best efforts prove futile and useless. The leaves will fall, and we are slaves to sin when left to ourselves.
BUT, there’s good news! God is able to save us from our sin. Take the Rugrats illustration for example: the babies were trying relentlessly to “save” the tree and put the leaves back on. However, their efforts were futile- the leaves were all going to fall off, and they couldn’t stop it. But, every spring, the leaves grow back. The babies couldn’t do anything to make that happen, just like they couldn’t do anything to prevent the leaves from falling. Similarly, we are dead to our sin. We can’t do anything to save ourselves. We can try to cover our sin, try to fight it with our own efforts, but at the end of the day- we are slaves to sin. Our leaves will fall.
But God saved us! Just like He orchestrated the leaves to grow back in the spring, He saved us from our sin! He sent His Son to die for us, and He alone is able to save us from sin. Our efforts are in vain; but His work is sufficient. (“It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” Romans 9:16)
We are completely and totally unable to save ourselves. But our God is able to save. He is mighty to save, He is willing to save. That’s so cool.

It's not an obligation, it's a privilege.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

Many of us are familiar with this passage. It’s one of the main things we learn as young believers- we are “supposed” to share our faith. I was timid for years about sharing my faith; I still am sometimes. I felt guilty because I was supposed to be telling people about Jesus, but I wasn’t. But over the past few months, God has really been challenging my attitude.
I don’t have to share the Gospel; I get to. One of my friends pointed this out to me last year. We often list a bunch of things that we have to do as Christians. We see things as an obligation, when they are truly a gift. And attitude truly makes all the difference! This applies to SO many things! Take chores for example: I so often complain about having to do laundry. However, if I step back for a moment and truly think about it, I am SO blessed to have clothes to wash! People we worked with in El Salvador didn’t even have clothes to wash. They only owned what they were wearing. And I complain because I have “so much laundry to do”, instead of thanking God for blessing me with clothing to wear. I also whine about going grocery shopping. I have cabinets FULL of food, and I complain because I have to buy it. Some people won’t eat at all today!
Then, even more offensive, I felt guilted in to sharing the Gospel. Sometimes I feel like I have to do it. The God of the universe came down to save us from our sins, and He lets ME tell people about it! He is so gracious! We are sinners, unable to save our selves. Yet He uses our lips to proclaim His Gospel. We are unworthy to even speak His Name, yet we get to share the words of eternal life with those around us. Are you starting to see what a huge blessing this is?? It took me WAY too long to start to comprehend this truth. But now that I am starting to get it, it has really changed the way I live. God has graciously decided to use us as His tools, His ambassadors, His vessels. I LOVE to see the ways that God has used us for His glory. It is so humbling to think about. He is far too good for us, yet I so often snub my nose at His blessings instead of showing Him the gratitude that is His due. Man, I am so broken.
I pray that God will continue to challenge me in this area, and continue to show me that the world is SO much bigger than me. There are people out there who need the Gospel. There are people out there who don’t know about Christ yet. They are with out hope, with out God, and with out the Gospel. We get to go. We get to share. We get to tell them about Christ, and we get to glorify God. He is so generous to let us participate in His plan for redemption of man kind.