“Jesus was going through all the cities
and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the
kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Seeing
the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and
dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”
(Matthew 9:35-36, ESV)
Voices are raised, rallies are held,
causes are put forth and some people even get involved. On the other side … tempers rise in response,
counter rallies are held, alternative causes are proclaimed and a few others
get involved. “We need more guns.” “No we need less guns.” “We need to stand
strong.” “No, we need to compromise.” “We
need less taxes.” “We need more
services.” On and on, we walk as a
culture, like the thousands of cultures before us … sometimes stumbling, sometimes
standing, sometimes thinking and arguing and sometimes finding actions and
solutions. It is part of the dynamic of
life in societies and cultures. Somehow
we find a course. Sometimes there is
compromise and sometimes there is nothing but more quarreling.
Sometimes Christians find
themselves consumed with certain causes. There is nothing wrong with being passionate
for causes but our living as He wants us to live must be more than causes. Christians must remember, that there is things that God most values as pure religion. It is not which political party you belong to
nor is it the certain side of an argument that you rally around.
Jesus lived out the love of God and He brought “Good News” to the poor
and oppressed. Jesus saw the world with the
compassion of God’s love and lived out God’s grace in responding to those
around Him. Seeing with the compassion
of Christ, gracefully loving and giving to all in need especially those who
have little voice or position along with following God’s ways are the most pure
virtues of Christian faith. It is not
the causes we support or the views we have on a particular subject that God
sees as the purest reflection of His presence in your heart. The purest reflection
of God’s presence in our lives is simply the love you give away as we follow
Him with all our heart. It is this love in action which shines like a beacon
that His heart of grace is in us.
“Religion that is pure and undefiled
before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their
affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:27, ESV)
No comments:
Post a Comment