Thought for Monday 7June

  Thought for Monday 7 June        Romans 15: 7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. When my son was stationed in Germany, we visited for Christmas one year, to see our new granddaughter. We went to a market which seemed magical. As we were walking around trying to take it all in, one of the stalls caught my eye and I moved toward it only for my son to grab me and steer me the other way. It turns out that there were three young guys harassing another one, who had been sitting on the ground and Alex thought I would have said something to them (probably). Anyway, an older man stepped in and helped the young man to his feet and spoke to him, before leading him to one of the food stalls and buying him a hot drink and putting a load of sugar in it. The older man had seen what the others hadn’t, the boy was ill. It appears that the others thought the young man was begging and had taken exception to it. They just jumped to an easy conclusion. This episode comes to mind when I see others being treated unfairly, just because they don’t live in the ‘right’ part of town. Or because they cannot afford designer clothes. They may have a disability or an addiction. It’s all around us and we see it every day but often don’t notice it because it is so common. However, we shouldn’t be so wrapped up in our own lives that we cannot see those whom Jesus made a point of noticing. As this passage says, we should accept one another as Christ accepted us in order to bring praise to God. Jesus doesn’t look at where we live or what we are wearing. He sees us! The heart and soul of us. He knows who we are and what we are. It doesn’t matter how much money we give to charity if we don’t have charity in our hearts. We have got to sit on the ground with our brother/sister if that is where he/she is. How are we going to bring praise to God if non-Christians see us treating our Christian brothers and sisters with disdain? We are followers of Jesus Christ! Let us act like we are, then maybe we can bring others to praise God.   Prayer Lord Jesus, You gave up all for us but so often we cannot even give a thought to the plight of those around us. So many people would be so happy with a kind word or a friendly smile when their need is actually so much greater than that. Prayers are good but sometimes a personal interaction would be better. Lord Jesus, please help us to see others the way You see us, everyone equal in Your sight. Amen.