Hey friends, I want to share a 3 minute devotion with you. I pray you are staying safe and keeping in touch with those you love.
Below is a the summary.
There is a story of a man who was once known as a serious Christian. He:
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Ready his Bible every day.
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Memorized scriptures.
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Was at church every time the doors were open.
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Fed the homeless.
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Prayed for others to receive Christ.
Then, something changed, and he no longer believed in Christ. He stopped doing all those things he was doing before. He began resenting the church, Jesus and everything to do with God.
Three of his Christian friends were discussing his situation to decide the best way to reach out to their friend. That is when an argument broke out. You may have heard this argument before:
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Friend one said the man was never a believer to begin with.
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Friend two said the man was once a Christian, but had given up his salvation when he denied Christ.
The argument got heated as the friends shared their reasoning. They backed up their views with Scripture.
Just as the argument was about to get physical, the friend three stepped in and said:
“Friends, please stop. We all agree that our friend needs the love of God in his life. He needs to know Jesus Christ. What can we do to bring that to him?”
And just like that he changed the conversation, the focus, and the perspective.
This friend knew that people are greater our arguments.
This story reminds me of the story in the book of Mark chapter 3, when Jesus healed the man with the withered hand.
“And He entered again into a synagogue
and a man was there with a withered hand.
And they (Pharisees) were watching Him
to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath,
in order that they might accuse Him.
And He said to the man with the withered hand,
“Rise and come forward.”
And He said to them (Pharisees),
“Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm,
to save a life or to kill?”
But they kept silent.
After looking around at them with anger,
grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man,
“Stretch out your hand.”
And He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
We must understand that Jesus was not angry or grieved at the Pharisees because they wanted to honor the Sabbath. The text says He was angry and grieved because their heart was hardened.
Jesus wasn’t angry about whether they had their doctrine right.
Jesus was angry because they did not see the hurting human being right in front of them.
Don’t misunderstand me (or Jesus). An accurate understanding of God’s teaching is very important. But remember, our ultimate calling is to Love God and Love Others.
This reminds me of times when I have a hard heart. Even in my pursuit to know and serve God, I can totally miss the people around me. In those times, I’m sure that Jesus was grieved as well.
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God, soften our hearts to really see the needs of those around us. Let us be the one who brings life, hope, health and healing to those around us. And, may we also pursue Your truth in the process. In Jesus name. Amen!
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You have your whole life to master God’s doctrines, but you may only have one moment to heal a life.
Until next time.
Love and blessin’s,
David