I hope this blog finds you well. I am enjoying my summer and I hope you are too. The weather has been typically-Texas-hot lately and I'm loving it! How about you? Have you been going to the beach, swimming in the pool, taking bicycle rides around the neighborhood? I hope so. Enjoy your time off of school and being with your friends. School is rapidly approaching!
Have you had any opportunities to share your faith this week? In my last blog I talked about why God views sharing our faith as important. I hope you learned something from that blog. I pray that your heart has softened a little more towards those that are lost and need Him. Remember, we have all been there before. Remember when you were lost? Aren't you glad God pursued you and used people in your life to direct you to Him? I know I am.
Today we are going to read more in the book of Luke. Let's turn our hearts towards God today and allow Him to touch us. Please open your bibles to Luke 10:25-27. Take a moment to read these three verses.
Luke 10:25-27
And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” So he answered and said, “ You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”
Just like in the last passage we read together, there is someone in the audience that is questioning Jesus' teaching. This lawyer is trying to find out how he can be saved and have everlasting life. Its like he is asking Jesus how he can get the living water that Pastor Erik was throwing off the stage last week. Jesus answers him with a question. He asks the lawyer what the word of God says. The lawyer answers that it says to love God and love your neighbor as yourself.
This seems like such a simple answer to the complicated question that so many people are wondering about, "Where will I go when I die? How will I know that I will make it to heaven?" The answer seems simple because it is! That is the beauty of our God and of our faith. Did you realize that every other religion and faith teaches that there is something that a person must do to make it to heaven or to acquire happiness in the afterlife? Christianity is the only faith that teaches that you can not obtain heaven through works. There is nothing that you can do to make it to heaven. Nothing! Well, there is one simple thing, and that is what this passage is all about. All you need to do is love the Lord your God with everything that you have. If you love God with everything then you have believed and trusted that He sent His son Jesus to die on the cross for your sins. If you love God with your whole heart, mind, and soul then you want to obey Him. If you love God with everything you have then you will live forever with Him in paradise. Its so simple, its so beautiful and wouldn't you know it is the one truth that the enemy tries to distort everywhere in the world?
So what does any of this have to do with sharing our faith? Think about the implications! Here Jesus is giving an answer to the most important question you will ever ask in your life. The answer is given so simply and in the same breath as this simple command..."Love your neighbor as yourself." To me if this command is linked in with the answer to my salvation, then I know it must be important. I know from the passages in my previous blog that God views the lost as very important indeed. I also now know that my love for others is linked into the basis of my faith. Not only am I commanded to love God with everything I have, but also to love others as I love myself.
How do we love ourselves? Answering that question will give us insight into what God wants us to do for others. Well, I feed myself, clean myself, dress myself, educate myself, etc. These are all physical needs that contribute to my physical well-being. I also care about where I am going to spend eternity. I seek out God and want to learn more about Him because I care what happens to me in the moment that I take my last breath. I want to know that when I close my eyes for the very last time that I will be in the presence of God. Undoubtedly you love yourself the same way or you wouldn't even be reading this blog right now! So, do you love others in the same way? Can you honestly say that you care about the people you work with, your friends, your family, or a complete stranger on the side of the road the same way that you care for yourself? If you do not, then it is time you and I both realized that we are called to do that.
So how do we share Jesus with those that are different from us? What about those people that are from a different culture, race, or religious background? Well, Jesus has answered that for us in this verse. We can share Jesus with different people by putting God first in our lives and by treating others the way we would want to be treated. Before you open your mouth to say something stop and ask yourself if what you are about to say might hurt someone's feelings. Put yourself in the place of others; would your actions and words hurt your feelings? If so, then you are not loving others as you would love yourself. God did not call us to stand on our soapbox and start judging others or giving people commands and ultimatums. No. God didn't even do that to us! Why would he do that to anyone else? Why would he do that to the lost ones which he is desperately searching for? No, God called us to love. God made us to love.
Go out and love someone today. Share the love of Christ and obey God's commands in the process.
Until tomorrow...God bless!
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