Monday, April 28, 2014

Giving the Gift of Life


Sarah Farkas was a seminary student assigned to care for members of a nearby church.  While there, she met a man, Duke Guy, who was on dialysis and needed a kidney transplant.  But no matching kidney had been found.  Sarah was praying one night that a donor would be found, where when she heard God say to her, Why don’t you give him one of your kidneys?   She immediately began to tremble and weep but felt a sense of peace. 

Sarah spoke to several people who encouraged her to do it.  After 3 months of wrestling with God and agonizing, she went through a number of medical tests that determined she was a  perfect match for Duke.  On January 13, she and Duke were wheeled into side-by-side operating rooms, and Duke received one of her kidneys, which is now functioning in his body.  He is no longer living with the kidney disease that plagued his life for over 30 years.

Sarah says, In hindsight, it seems fitting that God asked a question.  After all, God gives us opportunities to answer and step out in obedience several times a day, but often we aren’t listening or even paying attention.  God does not ask everyone to donate a kidney, but He does ask that w e slow down, close our laptops, turn off our televisions, and silence our cell phones so that we can give our uninterrupted attention to Him and to the people He has chosen to place in our lives.

We are called to be the light of the world, and our light shines a little brighter when we take the time to listen, because when we listen, heaven and earth collide.  

We all have a terminal disease called sin.  Unless we receive a transplant from the Savior, our lives will wither and end.  Jesus offers us each a fresh start, a new life, a heart transplant that leads to eternal life. 

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