We think we show well to the watching world, don't we? God has a different view of all our attempts to look good and do good: ...all our righteous acts are like filthy rags ... (Isaiah 64:6) In God's eyes, we are all ragamuffins! (Raggamuffin is a dirty, shabbily dressed child.) In fact, there are ragamuffins running around all over! The world has been INVADED by ragamuffins!
And what ragamuffins need most is Jesus! Think about how Jesus spent most of His time. Check it out in the Gospels. He did a lot of walking and talking. He met a lot of people with big needs. Sometimes He even stopped in mid-stride to help. (Luke 8:42-45) Jesus hung out with ragamuffins a lot!
God's kingdom was His theme ... What did God's kingdom look like when Jesus was doing it? It looked like caring for people - people with messy lives, people in pain, people who needed His time and touch! In a word, raggamuffins. Doesn't that mean we should be hanging out with ragamuffins (like us!).
After reading the Gospel of Luke for the first time, a young post modern observed: Wow! Like Jesus has this totally intense thing for ragamuffins. (Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel, p. 49)
Yes, He does! And it's a very good thing because this means He wants to hand out with you and me - raggamuffins like us!
Jesus' thing for raggamuffins is the best news there is! And when we get finished letting Him love on our raggamuffins hearts, then we need to go out and find a ragamuffins to love on today in Jesus' name! There are raggamuffins everywhere - people with messy lives, people in pain, people who just need a kind word or touch. Love a raggamuffin for Jesus today!
He went all over ... He used synagogues for meeting places and taught people the truth of God. God's kingdom was His theme - that beginning right now they were under God's government! He also healed people of their diseases and of the bad effects of their bad lives ... whether mental, emotional or physical. Jesus healed them one and all. (Matthew 4:23-24, The Message)
Lord Jesus, I am a raggamuffin. I am lost and and lonely. I need You today. Help me reach out to other raggamuffins like me and love them like You love them! In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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