Thought for Friday, 2 June 2023

Romans 13:8-10 _NIVUK

 

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another,

for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.' Love does no harm to a neighbour. Therefore, love is the fulfilment of the law.

 

Earl Wilson said: "Today, there are three kinds of people: the have's, the have-nots, and the have-not-paid-for-what-they-haves."

 

Which category are we in? As for me, I am in the last category, I think we all are. Which one of us can profess that we do not owe Jesus our love, and lives and all that we have...? We must all admit we could never repay Him for what He suffered to buy our redemption.

It was not only on the cross did Jesus suffer under the weight of our sins, and God turning His back on Him. Imagine what Jesus suffered before He was crucified. Not a regular whipping for Him, no, the ‘whip’ that was used tore into His back, pulling the flesh from His body.

I often wonder why there are so few paintings depicting the torn and bleeding flesh of Jesus on the cross. In fact, I don’t think I have ever seen one.

We not only owe Jesus our lives and loyalty. We owe it to Him to live as He taught us. ‘Love your neighbour as yourself,’ was not an option for us.

I think the best way to show our love for Jesus is by loving our neighbours as He told us to. If we cannot love our neighbours, how can we say we Love Jesus?

We have a new lady in the complex, very quiet and a bit overwhelmed at first. Fortunately, we have a very friendly and loving crowd ready to welcome her into the community. It has not taken long for her to feel at home and now she is taking part in almost all that goes on.

Love is not just a feeling, we sometimes need to decide we want to share our love with someone, we cannot live in a vacuum.

I don’t think God gave us the 10 commandments on a whim. He knew we would need direction in our lives, so He set out an ordered plan. It’s our duty to follow that plan and those orders.

 

Prayer

Lord Jesus, You told us to love our neighbour as ourselves, all other commands are wrapped up in loving our heavenly Father and loving our neighbours. We know this does not only mean the folk next door but those in far flung places where there are wars, and those countries where they are suffering from the effects of nature. Lord Jesus, there are people who do not know where their next meal is coming from or how they will pay for utilities and other necessities. Please put into the hearts of world governments the plight of the people they are responsible for. Amen