Do they know Jesus?

"Live Girls" is the advertising line on the sign outside a strip club I drive past on my way to and from work every day. I find the sign ironic. I have to wonder how 'alive' many of these women/girls feel on the inside or is there a part of their heart and being that has died. Please know that I am not judging them in any way. I pray for them. While I don't think I know any of them personally, I would guess that some are mothers trying to make ends meet. Others are just trying to get by and pay this month's rent. Maybe some are putting themselves through college. Maybe they are trying to keep the bills paid and find a way to get ahead. Maybe some were lured in by the promise of easy money. The reason doesn't really matter, but their lives do.

I don't know what first led them to this place. But I have to wonder if they ever look in the mirror and feel like something inside of them has died. You can only find your value and worth in dollar bill tips and cheap flattery for so long. At some point, the little girl inside of them has to cry out and say "this isn't what I wanted to be when I grew up."

Is there a part of their heart that has died to the longing to be beautiful to just one man? Have they ever thought that after all that has gone on in their lives that just one man could ever love them? Or could ever forgive them? Do they ever cry into their pillows wanting to know if life has more to offer? Were they ever abused as a woman or as a child and as a result have a distorted view of men? Do they ever have a desire for someone to help them out of the pit they find themselves in? Do they know Jesus?

Do they know that Jesus died for them? (1 Cor. 15:2-4) Do they know that he loves them exactly as they are and that His grace is more than enough? (2 Corinthians 12:9) Do they know that this One man, named Jesus, thinks they are beautiful and that He is enthralled with their beauty? (Psalm 45:11) Do they know that God thinks of them more often than the grains of sand and that He knit them together in their mother's womb? (Psalm 139) Do they know that if they cry out to the Lord in their distress that He will answer them? (Psalm 120:1) Or that He wants to bestow upon them a crown of beauty instead of ashes? (Isaiah 61:3) Do they know Jesus?

As I drive by, day after day, my prayer is that they will know Jesus Christ as their Savior. I pray that they will know how beautiful they are to the Lord. He loves them just the way they are and there is nothing he can't forgive or that his grace won't cover. These women weren't born into this world to live a life that cheapens their value and demeans their self-worth. God has a plan for each of their lives of good and not of evil. (Jeremiah 29:11-12) Oh, how I pray that they know Jesus.

Humbly His,
Kim