rocks that ripple

It's a moist and misty morning and the local pond is blurred in the early morning light.  It's almost as if the new day is sleepy and reluctant to fully open its eyes.  But the glassy surface of the water has inspired a thought.  When a pebble is tossed into the pond there is a momentary sound as the rock breaks the water but then ripples of energy flow outward for some time.  If a number of stones were tossed into the pond from all directions, the circles of energy would touch every corner of the pond.  In a sense, each of us, as believers in Jesus Christ...recipients of His saving touch, are pebbles that He is tossing into the pond.  Taken by themselves, each pebble has a small, local influence as Christ's energy and Holy Spirit ripple through and outward.  Collectively, even a large pond of people, is touched.  We are keenly aware of our smallness and our weakness and we wonder how we can make a difference in this overwhelming pond that we look across each day.  But the Hand that tosses us into the pond is not our own and the outwardly radiating energy is not from us...it passes through us and touches a circle that surrounds our lives.

2 Corinthians 5:¹⁸ And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. ¹⁹ For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.²⁰ So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us.