“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’” – Matthew 25:21 ESV
Every Christian wants to hear Christ say to them, “well done, good and faithful servant” when they die and stand before Him. If you spend your life striving to imitate Christ, then you can be certain to hear these words. However, if you take the knowledge and talents God has gifted you and do nothing with them the result will be dynamically different.
With this in mind when you see a Christian love what God loves so fully that it changes the lives of the people around them – we need to share that story; in this case, Gil Jones’ story.
Imagine your doctor gives you 6 months to live. What would your “to do list” look like?
I imagine very few of us would put down “making an intentional investment in the life of a stranger.”
We might list family members we could invest in or enjoying our favorite activities. While it is always amazing to me when a Christian man steps intentionally in to the life of a fatherless boy, it is a thousand times more moving when a man who knows he has less than 6 months to live does it.
Fathers in the Field has highlighted Gil Jones and his commitment to his Field Buddy Dorian several times over the years (the links to these stories are below).
Gil was given the diagnosis of cancer and a time frame of 6 months to get his affairs in order. When asked why he was willing to invest in Dorian with so little time left to live, Gil would always say “I trust God to give me the time Dorian needs. He has asked me to be obedient to defending the fatherless, not to fear death.”
Gil took that 6 months and used it to give his Field Buddy Dorian 6 years.
Mentor Father’s make an intentional 3 year commitment to a fatherless boy. After that 3 year intentional commitment was over, Gil stayed consistently involved in Dorian’s life until he went home to be with Christ in March of 2021.
He did this because he believed that the time God had allotted him should be intentionally invested in the life of this one fatherless boy. It is not about the numbers, but how each soul is eternally precious.
When Dorian was asked how he felt when he was initially paired with Gil, he said “at the time I didn’t really care because I knew I was going to kill myself in 2 weeks.” He had it planned to the smallest detail. When pressed as to why he said “because my father told me I didn’t matter, I was a POS and worthless.
So when Gil honored his commitment to me, he showed me that I had value and worth. Gil literally saved my life.”
Gil Jones, a faithful servant of God, took the talents given to him by his Heavenly father and invested them in Dorian. While doing that, he set the example of Christian living for the rest of us.
I had the privilege of sharing about the impact Gil made at his memorial service.
Looking out over the crowd of people whose lives had been transformed by Gil’s faithful service, highlighted for me the life he lived for Christ.
God has given you knowledge, talents, passions and a calling to become like Jesus. When you stand before Christ at the end of this life you will give an account for what you did and did not do with these treasures. How will that conversation go?
Contact me today and together we can insure that Christ is honored because you’re investing those talents to help heal the broken heart of a fatherless boy.
Standing in the Gap,
John Smithbaker
Founding Servant
P: 1-844-472-4241 e:info@fathersinthefield.com