This morning on my way to work, I was thinking about that New Testament passage in the Bible that says that there are two things that Jesus commanded us to do, but I couldn’t remember exactly where it was. I Googled it (what did we EVER do before Google?) and this is what I found. Luke 10: 25-29 says this:
25And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
29But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
I stopped right there and snickered to myself. Jesus is giving this guy only two things to focus on: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. Oh, and one more thing: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Sounds pretty simple, right?
But that wasn’t enough for this lawyer. He poses the question, just to be clear, “Who, exactly, is my neighbor?”
Jesus goes on to tell the story of the Good Samaritan to make his point to the lawyer, but as I went back to re-read this passage, starting with verse 25, I kept stopping at verse 29.
29But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
Willing to justify himself….that’s so typically human. We want to do what we’re supposed to, so that we can justify ourselves, but not a bit more. Not even a smidge more.
Again, I’m convicted.
I try very hard to do what is right, both in God’s eyes and, admittedly, in the eyes of others. But how much is really expected of me? And who, exactly, is my neighbor? I’m reminded of the fact that everything we have is given to us by our Father (James 1:17). Mike and I work hard for what we have, but in reality, we are able to work hard to obtain what we have only by the grace of God. Why, then, do I neglect to share our resources with others outside of our family? I’ll admit that when I see someone in need, most of the time my immediate reaction is “How can we help them?” I’ll also admit that I don’t always follow through, even though I have good intentions.
I realize that there are more ways to love my neighbor as myself than by meeting physical needs through financial support. What about just taking the time to listen, to be there when someone needs emotional support? It's been said that spending time with someone is one of the greatest gifts you can give them. Time. It's a precious commodity these days, one that I waste alot of on a continuous basis, it seems.
The question, for me, boils down to this: How am I using everything God has given me to love my neighbor as myself?
Loving God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength is easy for me. If my goal in life is to be like Christ, then loving my neighbor as myself should be just as easy. I'm thinking that if you truly love someone, even a neighbor that you don't really know, you show it through words and deeds.
This is something that's going to be on my mind for a while, I imagine. I have a deep desire to be like Christ, and I think working on these two simple things might be a really good place to start.
I wish it was as easy as it sounds. Starting today, I'll be praying that God will give me the mind and heart of Christ.
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