NOTE: much of today’s devotion was first shared in
December 2011.
I
am preparing to go to Nicaragua at the end of August with a group of people
from our church. We will encounter
poverty at levels that is not seen in the area we will in, yet people in need
are all around us. We must be careful to
open our eyes and even ask God to show us who we can serve.
Opportunities
to help people will pass us by if we let it. Being humans our normal mode
is to put on blinders and only deal with our own issues and our own life while allowing
situations and people to pass us by. That reminds me of the time when
someone saw a lady getting mugged on the street, yet they passed by after doing
nothing to help. Sounds like the story of the “good Samaritan” to me.
If
someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but
shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?
We say that we love God, and we even go to church and can quote
scripture. Yet we see someone in need and move on. How can we keep
on doing that? The excuses we come up with may be that we don’t have
enough money or don’t have the resources the person might need, but we do have some
of what they need. We might even know where this person, another human
loved by God, can get what they need. But we too often walk on by.
Here is an
example of what breaks my heart… American Christians are making a difference in
many places here and around the world. Our call is NOT to Americanize
people, making them look like or act like we do. God’s call on us and His
church is to share the hope that comes from knowing Jesus. Many times for
people to hear what we have to say we have to meet their needs. I believe
the best way to meet needs is to go where people are.
For too long
we have expected people to come to where we are, dress the way we want them to
and talk the way we think they should talk. Watch out! Lost people
often act lost. Hello! Hurting people act like hurting
people. It is time for each of us to take the love that God has given us
and give it to others.
That might
mean we have to get our hands dirty. That might mean we have to learn
another language or find someone who can interpret what we are saying. It
means we have to leave our comfort zone and go to where it is not so
comfortable. It means that we have to leave where we are and go somewhere
else. Know anyone who has done that before? Think about this guy:
JESUS. He left heaven and came to earth.
Love really
does mean helping others. I long to serve the people around me.
Often serving means I might not always be comfortable, I might not always
understand, I might have to live by faith, I might have to join with others to
help more people, I might have to give some of what I have away, I might have
to put in to practice what I read in the Bible, I might have to … what?
What might you and I have to do so that we can show that we believe LOVE MEANS
… HELPING OTHERS?
16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave
up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and
sisters… 18 Dear children, let’s not merely
say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.
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