As I speak with people here in Ukraine about true religion, that is, a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, initially I’m often met with a blank stare that easily betrays the fact that they have never heard of such a thing.  That is naturally to be expected.  In a land that was under the atheistic cloud of Soviet authority for decades and was locked in a haze of pagan superstition before that, it’s not hard to believe that there are still many, especially in outlying villages like our own village, who have never heard the truth of the gospel.  

  In Matthew 10:20-21, Jesus spoke words that are truly startling. “He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”  

  I confess that there are mysteries contained in those words that I cannot fully comprehend, but the primary idea that we ought to see is that Christ was speaking to people who had received a truly profound blessing and privilege!  They had experienced the ministry and the actual presence of the incarnate Son of God in their midst!  They had the opportunity to physically see and hear God Himself as He reached out to them in the Person of Jesus!  And, yet, despite the incredible light that they had been given, they continued to walk in darkness.  Others, Jesus said, had perished with far less light and opportunity than they, yet these fortunate souls had not taken advantage of their incomparable privilege.  

  In the process of interacting with the spiritual darkness in our village, and as I speak with people, pray with people, give God’s Word to people, and prepare to open a ministry center that will be a continual light in the center of our village to proclaim and demonstrate the love and truth of Christ, these words of Jesus in Matthew 10 strike me to the core.  

  For, oh, what blessing I have received from God!  From the very earliest years of my life I was surrounded with the gospel message!  I heard the truth and observed it lived out before me daily from the time I was born!  I was saturated with Christian light, and for me to have gone any other way would have been difficult.  God so hemmed me in with His grace and mercy that I was all but constrained to follow His wonderful way.  

  What, however, of the thousands of people around me here in this forgotten village of Ukraine?  What, for instance, of the lost man with whom Oksana and I prayed a few days ago as we bought him some food and pressed a New Testament and gospel tract into his hands?  His life was in shambles and he wept pitiful tears as he thanked us for helping him.  We bowed our head right on the open street and prayed with him.  What of a man like him?  Has he had anything even close to the light that I have experienced?  Did his parents take him to church and share with Him about God’s love?  Has He experienced a warm and godly atmosphere of grace throughout His life?  Has he been blessed with examples and friends and influences that have urged him on to seek salvation and a relationship with his Creator?  Is his bookshelf lined with Bibles, commentaries and devotional books?  Had anyone ever once prayed with him or even for him before that recent moment on a street in Ukraine?  

  Those questions are, admittedly, rhetorical.  For there is no doubt that the answer to each of them is a resounding “no.”  Jesus acknowledged as much when he told his hearers plainly that they had been given far greater light and spiritual blessing than many others.  And, Jesus said something else.  He said, “To Whom much is given, much is required.”  

  Dear friend, as a missionary, this is a reality that impresses itself upon me continually.  The thing that shames me the most is that I have not done more with the incredible opportunities that God has given me.  Despite the precious light and blessings that I have been given, I have so often been so slow to step out and be faithful with the “much” that I have been given by God.  Oh, how patient and longsuffering God has been!  How gracious and merciful He has been to me!  

  How, then, will I respond to His grace?  What will I do with the light that I have?

  The motivation for missions should not be guilt: “Ah, I feel so bad...it’s so unfair that others have had less than I...”  In the end, that type of response is just another way of being selfish and giving to others to make ourselves feel better.  Rather, the motivation of missions must be a deep sense of God’s destiny for my life!  In His sovereign plan, I was blessed with these blessings so that I can be used by Him and spent by Him to bring Him glory by drawing others to Him!  It’s all about Him!  

  May my heart burn with a missionary zeal to be used by God to show others the light and grace that has been shown to me!  May my life be consumed with a passion for His glory among all people!  May Jesus never look at me with sadness and say, “If others had been given what you have been given...oh, what they would have done with it!”  

  So, once again I ask, how will I respond to His grace?  What will I do with the light that I have?  “This little light of mine - I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.”