Anyone and Everyone!

March 29, 2026

A while back, Marie and I went to a reception in a neighborhood community center. While we were there, I noticed a poster on the wall listing the dos and don’ts for using the community center. The list was quite extensive, and there were way more don’ts than dos. We humans tend to be rather inclusive about who we let into our little circle, after all. When I was a boy, way back at the dawn of time, we had an NGA club (No Girls Allowed). There were three of us in our little club. My brother, our next-door neighbor, and I. This worked well because my little sister was too young to roughhouse with us boys, and no girls lived close by anyway. Then a couple of things happened that changed the NGA club's trajectory forever. First, my little sister got old enough to play with us, and second, our new next-door neighbors had two kids, both girls. Their parents and my parents got together and introduced an amendment to our NGA rule. It just so happened that girls were allowed after all! When it was all said and done, the new club was better than the old club because six kids were better than three, and even though my kid sister was still my kid sister, it turned out she and the next-door neighbor girls didn’t have cooties after all. I read a Bible verse this morning that sent me pondering my childhood. Here’s the verse. “Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” John 7:38 NLT. Aren’t you thankful that the word “anyone” is so exclusive? Anyone means anyone! Men, women, boys, and girls are all welcome. Aren’t you glad Jesus doesn’t restrict His invitation to intelligent, beautiful, and rich people? All are welcome regardless of age, ethnicity, education, or social status. Anyone means anyone. The only requirement is to believe. Believe what, you ask? Believe Jesus is who He says He is (the Son of God), and trust in His finished work on the cross. That’s it. Period. Y’all, there is a world of people looking for a place to belong, and that place is in the arms of Jesus. Let’s get busy recruiting for the E.I.S.I.J. club (Everybody is Somebody in Jesus).

Be blessed and then go be a blessing . . . Bro. Andy