A View Thru Love-Colored Glasses
Jesus came to save the lost (Matthew 18:11, Luke 19:10). He came to love people. He brought a message to those without direction, not for the Pharisees of His day who completely rejected Him, it was freedom He brought and the Father who sent Him.
Not everyone will hear the message, but our job is to share the message. We have so many channels available to us today -Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, WhatsApp, text messaging and so many more. There are so many ways in which we can share the love of our Savior. On a few of the channels I use, I use a byline of “Love God, love people, 24/7”. I’ve seen others use tag-lines to openly profess their faith in a business setting, or via personal email.
Every day I think of ways in which I can be loving toward my neighbor as the scripture says in Matthew 22:37-40:
Jesus replied: “‘Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
During this COVID season, it has been a privilege to see the service of some amazing people at the Severn Run Food Pantry, and I think we as people of faith should continue to look for additional opportunities to serve. I found some guidance in Matthew 25: 44-45 where Jesus talks about different categories of people who need our help:
“They also will answer, ‘LORD, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a
stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one
of the least of these, you did not do for me.’”
There is an opportunity for us to step up in 2021 and show the world Jesus’s love and compassion in this century. When we publicly call ourselves Christians, people will automatically think about the work that we are involved in and about the help that we gave to people in need.
In Matthew 25 we are given the outline for a final exam that we need to be ready for. There will be no do-overs, no excuses, no time-outs. Just yes or no.
Did you do this?
Did you serve others?
Did you feed them?
Did you visit them?
How can we work on exam prep in 2021? If someone is being targeted, hassled, hurt, because of whatever reason, it is our responsibility, to speak up for them, to pray for them, to love them, to advocate for them in a way that Jesus would have.
For 2021 and beyond we need to continue to reflect the light of Jesus’s love so the world can see. Let’s build the biggest beacon we can so that others will want to follow our Savior.
Until Jesus’s kingdom is come.
CT