I use to work with kids aged 7-9. Lisa, a little girl who I have named differently, gave me this letter above; "I don't care anymore. (Face with tongue sticking out) I was good but now I changed and now I'm bad." Not cute.
You see, a few weeks before I got this letter, I didn't let her be my helper because she was misbehaving. I found those precious little kids loved being my helper, even if it meant just holding my attendance binder; only the good kids get that privilege though and Lisa wasn't good. I remember her apologizing and telling me that she will be a good girl and not give me any more trouble, "I just want to hold your binder, Mr. Ronald." She said.
So, I let her hold my binder. She was good for the rest of that day, the next, and a few days after that, until she started misbehaving again. So, she didn't get to hold my binder. It was probably during our homework time that she snuck in that yellow piece of paper back in my binder on April 12, 2018. Lisa's probably 10 or 11 now but I find in that little note a heart attitude that shows itself in not just kids, but also adults.
Chris Cuomo of CNN on live television said these seemingly good words, "If you believe in one another and if you do the right thing for yourself and for your community, things will get better in this country. You don't need help from above, it's within us."
But Chris, the note that Lisa gave me when she was about 8 expresses what's within us...
Chris, a cop who had sworn to protect the people of his community kneeling on the neck of another human being of that community for nearly 9 minutes when he has already been restrained by two other cops shows what's within us.
Chris, protest that has turned into looting, and rioting while proclaiming, "No Justice, No Peace", causing millions worth of damages to people and businesses show what's within us.
Chris, turn on the real news and see what's within us in action; Better yet, let's look at the words of the one above. Jesus Christ explains what's within us so clearly as penned in Matthew 15:19 (ESV), "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander." If you take a look within and you're desperately honest with yourself, you probably won't like what you see. We are born with extremely selfish hearts tainted by sin. Lisa was just bold enough to put it into words, look all over this world and people are putting it into action.
Chris potentially told millions of people to look within and find good to better our nation but Jesus paints truth for us in such a clear way when He says as penned in Matthew 7:17 (NIV), "A bad tree cannot bear good fruit." Some of us are still bad trees. So what's the solution?
We need to look to where Chris is telling us not to look, outside of ourselves. We need to look to the one who knows exactly what is in Chris's heart, Lisa's heart, my heart, and yours. We need to look to the one who has provided the remedy and cure for evil and selfish hearts. We need to look to the one who can completely transform bad trees, which are people, into good trees. We need to look at the one who has created us and loves us. We need to look to the one who was above but came down and put on flesh that He created, walked among us, and eventually died for us BUT rose again from the grave proving that we too can have new life in Him. We need to look to Jesus the Christ because if we don't, we'll try to be good like Lisa for a few days but because our hearts are evil and selfish, we'll end up saying, "I don't care anymore, I'm bad." It's only after people look to Jesus and receive His help that we will see a change in our nation.
Where are you looking?
"Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other." Isaiah 45:23 (NIV)
"Create in me a clean heart, O God..."Psalm 51:10 (KJV)