Trust and shame...

Reading in Romans this morning, chapter 10...Paul (guy who wrote the book) quotes from Isaiah 28:16 as he is speaking about Israel's unbelief, how that led to the opening of the door of salvation to the non-Jewish folks, and what is required to be saved. The Isaiah quote states:

"Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame."

This struck me this morning, as sometime it feels like there are people in our world who take every opportunity to put faith and those who believe to shame -- make believers out to be weak minded, crazy, intolerant, and naieve. Granted, some in our family of faith have gone a long way to fuel this fire; for that, I am sorry. I think often of the way we live faith out, and my desire is that others might come to know Jesus, because in Him lies hope of something more, something beyond what we see, the promise of eternity and that we will not be put to shame. It is hard to embrace faith for some due to the "shame" attached to it by some in our world. But when we see someone (our kids, our friends, the new person at church) willing to swallow pride, give up that fear, and take the first step towards Jesus, what a beautiful thing...

There are a couple of kids who have been coming on Wednesday nights to our senior high group. One is a kid who grew up outside the church, and whose parents are not real keen on them being here. This kid had moments of clarity this year, and is starting to admit the need to change. Last night, said kid came. Made it a point to tell us why they had not been around, and seemed genuinely happy to be back with the group for some frisbee and s'mores. My hope is that this kid will keep coming around, and will trust. When that happens, the lights go on, and there truly is no shame living in the light.