Loving Neighbors


"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?'  The expert in the law replied, 'The one who had mercy on him.'  Jesus told him, 'Go and do likewise.'" - Luke 10:36-37

Our home group Bible study had just finished dinner and we were beginning to settle in for a time of sharing, prayer, and study.  It was a beautiful evening and the kids were out playing.  Our neighbors were walking dogs, doing yard work or just sitting on their porches enjoying the sunset.  It was one of those Norman Rockwell moments - Americana at its finest.  Our conversation inside was lively and warm as we listened to each other's life updates and reflected on some thought provoking Bible verses.  About that time, the once distant sound of lawn mowing began to grow louder and louder.  It sounded like it was just outside the window.  The eyes of the group members told me immediately that it was in fact just outside the window.  Our yard was being mowed ... by my neighbor!  He was putting into practice the heart of what we were being challenged to do in our Bible study - Love your neighbor.  "Gee, must be nice", one of the group members said with a smile.  It is nice.  Good neighbors are a blessing to those around them. 
 
According to Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan, the hallmark of his followers is their love for neighbors.  To love God is to love people.  John adds that it is simply not possible to love God and hate those around us.  The clear challenge of Jesus' parable is to dramatically alter our understanding of neighbors and neighboring.  We are not to waste time trying to determine who our neighbor is.  We are to invest our time into loving all those in our life's circle. 
 
All around you and I are neighbors.  They are our spouse, our kids, our extended family, our co-workers, our church family, our neighborhood members, our waitresses, our bank tellers, our ...  With each day that can be described as "today" the privilege and responsibility to neighbor is our's.  What's God's will for us today?  Be a neighbor.  After all, aren't you glad that Jesus was a neighbor to us? 
  
Grace and Peace,
 
Tom

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tested

"He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do." John 6:1-13 Test day. I remember all too well the feelings of discomfort connected to that expression from my school days. I was so thankful the last time I had to take one. Tests felt so much like a cruel game of, "Guess What I'm Thinking?" with the author of the test. During one particularly grueling test, I noticed one of my classmates cheating like there was no tomorrow. Predictably, he aced it and I let's just say, didn't. It occurred to me later that I was actually being tested in two different ways that day. By God's grace alone, I passed them both. Philip was in the hot seat that day. Jesus, out of the twelve disciples, decided to single him out for testing. From all appearances, there was a massive resource shortage. Five thousand men plus women and children all hungry up against whatever money Judas had in the money bag. Philip was apparently incredulous as he emphaticall
Read more

Nothing Left

"'What do you mean what's the matter?' Micah replied. 'You've taken away all the gods I have made, and my priest, and I have nothing left!" Judges 17, 18 Unaware of some purchases that my wife had made earlier in the day, I didn't even hesitate to use my debit card at the checkout line. However, our bank was fully aware of all those purchases as well as the one I was attempting to make at the present moment. Clearly, the math didn't add up. Something from nothing is something less than nothing and that, as it turns, is frowned upon by our aforementioned bank. In short, the bank told the merchant there was nothing left and the merchant told me, "Declined." Micah was one panicked individual. His personal little self-directed and self-centered religion was coming apart at the seams. He had idols. He had priests. He had a shrine and even a sacred ephod (a priestly garment). All this, he thought, secured the LORD's blessing. When the warri
Read more

Who is Jesus?

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:15, 16 NIV) What are your thoughts about Jesus? Every major religion on earth has an opinion on who he was. Mostly they say that he was a good man, a powerful teacher, and a peacemaker. All of that is true. But what about him being the Son of God? Peter, after being with Jesus non-stop for 4 years was confident of his identity. He was assured that Jesus was God in the flesh, the Messiah that was to come. You essentially have three options when it comes to what you believe about Jesus: 1) He was a Liar 2) He was a Lunatic (out of his mind) 3) Or that He was Lord If he was, and is, Lord, then he deserves our worship and our entire lives. If Jesus is Lord, it is true that we have access to God by His sacrifice on the cross. Join us Friday night at 7, as we reflect on Jesus going to the cross for the sins of the entire world (Good Frida
Read more