Hey, little Jesus, come here!

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Published on Monday, 02 May 2011 02:00

A certain banana salesman in India went from house to house and offered bananas. He was completely covered with them. One lady, who didn’t hear him knocking on her door, opened the door only when he was already by the next house. Since she wanted to buy some bananas she decided to call him to come back. Without thinking long she shouted: "Hey, Banana, please come back here!" The man who sold bananas didn’t get offended at it and came back a bit later.

Perhaps this little story is a bit amusing for us and does not fit completely into our culture. We're tired of different house-to-house vendors and we don’t really need someone bothering us with bananas. However, I want to illustrate something quite different with this story. This simple Indian man, whose name is not important at all, was carrying bananas. In essence, that was his identity, to which he responded after the lady’s calling. That, what you “carry" in your life, creates your identity. Could it be said about you that you “carry” Christ? You might argue that this is very theoretical and questionable, because every Christian actually carries Christ. This fact, however, can be tested in the practice. Is it clear to other people, who at least somewhat know you, that you’re a Christian? If they see the Invisible One in you, if they see the Perfect One in the imperfect, then you really carry Christ in your life.

However, if they know you only as a hockey fan, or hard worker or a kind of lonely oddball, that nobody really knows who he actually is, there is a problem somewhere. Christ in you is well hidden. He must be manifested in you, He needs to glorify Himself through you. Or maybe even something worse happened. Christ ended up on the sidelines and creates only a sort of spiritual background inside of you, whereas something or someone else plays the first violin in your life. Some spend hours just by reading everything possible about their football star, or some musical idol, never miss a single match or concert. There is nothing wrong with hobbies, if they don’t consume all of your leisure. Only you know what you "carry” in your life. You carry only that, what your heart is full of. And how would you know, what your heart is full of? Start listening to your words. For out of the abundance of your heart your mouth speaks. That, what you talk about most, is something that governs in your life. If it is not Jesus, don’t get reconciled with that!

It's time again to put the Lord in a first place. He needs to reign in your life. Subsequently, it will reflect on your identity. You will be more Christian than an administrator, cook or mechanic for your surroundings. Probably some would not understand you in all things, maybe they will even defame you before others, but yet they will admire you on the inside. Holiness is irritating and also attractive to other people. You'll remind them on someone: Christ, about whom they heard long ago. Perhaps even a story from the Holy Scriptures will pop up in their minds. And if you keep “carrying” Jesus faithfully, you can expect that they will start longing after Him more than the lady in India after bananas.

I remember, that during my military service, some soldiers mockingly cried at me: "Hey, little Jesus, come here!" I didn’t get offended because I knew that behind those words was hidden their hunger for God. I was not mistaken. Under the surface they were hiding curiosity and had many questions which I gladly answered to. I was the happiest person in the world. It is assumed that many of them forgot my name, but certainly they didn’t forget that they’ve met a strange soldier - Christian, who was bringing them Christ.