Never underestimate the value of investing your life in just one person.
If you're anything like me you tend to conceptualize impact in terms of "bigness." We think it's got to be big to really make any difference. But how many times do we find God using the simple, ordinary, insignificant, and down-right embarrassingly small things to accomplish the unthinkable.
The truth of this was never more apparent to me than after discovering an important detail in the introduction to Luke's Gospel. I've probably read these verses dozens and dozens of times, but never saw it quite like this.
Luke begins his Gospel by saying:
Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us. They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples. Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also decided to write a careful account for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught.
Again, in the introduction to the book of Acts (the sequel to Luke's Gospel) Luke begins by saying:
In my first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit.
Ok, did you happen to notice who Luke is writing these two books to?
Luke is not writing to a group of churches.
He's not writing to a church.
He's not even writing to a small group of believers or church leaders.
Luke is writing to one guy named Theophilus! What we know as the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts started off as letters written to one guy. Can you imagine that?
We know Luke was a physician and a details kind of guy. In his own words he says he put together a "careful" or orderly account. Think about all the time, energy, and effort it took for Luke to write these two books...pouring over the evidence, cross referencing the eyewitnesses, investigating the details, writing it down, proofreading to make sure he got it right...
All for just one guy. Or was it?
Luke thought he was writing to one guy. He was hoping to encourage one friend. Yet, today it's impossible to measure the impact of his writing. Who knows how many over generations and centuries have read these two letters and been moved by them. Think about the significance of Luke and Acts on church history, the record of the early church, our understanding of the Holy Spirit. Think about the richness of parables and events recorded that are unique to Luke's Gospel.
The reality is that our world is different because Luke, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, decided to invest himself in one. What Luke didn't know is that, in obeying God and pouring himself into one, he was changing the world forever.
Do you want to make a difference? Do you want to do something really big? Do you want to change the world? Then find one person you can begin investing your life in. Let the Spirit lead you to pour into one and the rest will be history.
