I passed a church sign the other day that read: “You might be the only bible that someone reads.”

Its a universal enough thought, but it really struck me hard. How many people do we pass by who aren’t religious? The numbers are growing. There is also a growing number of people like me, who try, but not hard enough. I’m not an avid church goer, though I do make it from time to time. I read my bible some, but most my Christian life is wrapped up in prayer, which is good, but not enough. If I’m like this and I consider myself a Christ follower, imagine how little others come in contact with the word.

We’re supposed to think about our actions a lot as Christians, we’re supposed to repent when they aren’t well, and pray about how we can do better. We spend so much of our lives fighting our own demons and sins. When we’re trying to be better the effort is often pointed inward, because we realize that’s were most of our bad forms. We sometimes let down our outward reflection of Christ in this battle. It’s easy to do, we’re trying to be like Him, but none of us really are.

There’s a country song that has the lyrics “she’s like a Sunday morning, full of grace and full of Jesus”. I remember hearing it and thinking that I’d like to reach that, a point where people think I’m like a Sunday morning. I want to be such a reflection of Christ and His word that people feel more spiritual around me.

What brings the non-religious to God? There’s a lot of different ways it happens. They can come to Him from a place of pain when they’ve exhausted all other options, they can come to Him by chance, simply stumbling into Him when God wanted to make Himself known, but they can also come to Him by wanting some of the light they see His followers basking in.

I have friends who are far more Christ-like than I am. I want to be more like them, because I want to be more like Christ. If I wasn’t a Christian, I’d still like to be more like them, because they let off joy and forgiveness. That kindness and treatment is something I run towards, and it’s something others do too, because no matter what you believe when it comes to God, people have a hard time denying that love, joy, hope, and kindness are things they gravitate towards and want in life.

All of us fall short of Christ, but when we fail at truly trying, people see His followers as whatever sin and hate we’re bathing in, not what light we’re trying to step into.

It’s a hard pill to swallow, representing an ideal that we’re so far from, but it’s what happens in a world like this where so many people know His name but not His grace. It doesn’t mean that you have to be perfect, none of us are, but by simply aiming for Him we bring His grace upon us, and as a result, we bring it upon others to.

So focus a little more on what light you might be able to reflect from Him, because at the end of the day, you might be the only bible that people read, so you have to make sure you contain the right Word.