Are You The One?

This article was originally published in the Franklin News-Post.

Each week that I have an opportunity to write this column, I reflect on what is going on in our world and what it is God wants me to share.  Easter Sunday, or as many Christians refer to it, Resurrection Sunday has just passed.  I am writing this column just for the one.  Are you the one?


Maybe you accepted an invitation to attend a church service this past Sunday.  Maybe you awoke particularly early and enjoyed an early morning sunrise service.  Such services are very popular on Easter. For many who do not attend church regularly, sunrise service doesn’t have the same feel as a regular church service that you may have attended in the past.  If you are the one who just attended a service and are now reading this column, it’s not a coincidence.


Our faith walks can begin or begin anew out of the most incredible situations or in the simplest of ways.  Obviously, I have no idea what you are going through in this moment.  I do know the One who does.  If your spirit is being stirred and you do not even understand why, you just may be the one.  You have a choice to make.  As you are sitting and reading this maybe not even fully understanding why you cannot stop and just put it down, you have a choice to make.  Are you ready to feed that spirit that is stirring inside you?


Maybe you’re the one who goes to church every Sunday, but it is only a matter of habit.  Maybe you are going through the motions but haven’t checked into a real relationship with the One who matters.


In either case, today can be the day that all that changes for you. Right where you’re sitting, right in the midst of reading this column, just call out to God.  He WILL draw near to you.  Start with a couple of words that I will offer here and then just add your own words to close it.  “God, I don’t know how to pray or connect with you.  But, I know that there is something going on inside me.  I am experiencing this crisis, this hurt, this pain…(and you take it from there).


In Matthew 18:12 (ESV), Jesus asks, “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?” You see, the heavens rejoice each time just one person is added to God’s Kingdom.  The bible is full of examples of God pursuing the one.  You matter to God.  Regardless of what you have done. Regardless of what you’re doing right now.  No matter how far you think you are removed from God.  YOU matter to Him.  Let that sink in for a minute.  YOU matter to the Creator of all.  He created you for a purpose.  I was 49 years old before I began to understand and grasp this.


If you attended a service this past Sunday for the first time (or the first time in a while), I want to encourage you to go back again this Sunday.  If you called out to God while reading this column today, don’t let it end there.  Find your way to a service on Sunday.  If you’re not sure where to go, ask a friend that you know who goes to church.  Find a body of believers that stands on the Word of God.  If you don’t have a friend, send me an e-mail: jt.clark@mybrotherscrossing.org.


I am here to tell you, that you ARE the one.  God sent His only Son for all.  All includes you and it includes me.  Just as I am the one. You are the one.  There is nothing special about me.  Those that have known me a long time will tell you that.  Those who have been wronged by the man I used to be will tell you that.  But, what He did for me, He will do for you.  It’s personal.  It’s about your relationship with Him.


You are the one.