Deuteronomy 7-8, Luke 7:36-8:3, Psalm 69, Proverbs 12:1

Deuteronomy 7-8, Luke 7:36-8:3, Psalm 69, Proverbs 12:1

           

            600-800 customers come through my doors on any given day…that's a pretty good amount of people from all walks of life.  There is a customer who has come into my store for the last couple years, and I don't know his name, I have an idea of what he drinks, but I know his face well enough.  He has been polite, even nice whenever he comes in, but he is very quiet and keeps to himself.  Last time I saw him in my store he just sat at one of the chairs for a little while and charged his phone, so that was the last time I saw him until tonight.  I was driving home tonight around 930 in the Harbor Point area and I saw him walking alone with a bag around his shoulder in his slow but steady pace.  No lie, my first reaction was "huh" and I pulled my lip with an impassive shrug of my shoulders thinking it made more sense now.  I shamefully thank God for the conviction that immediately followed and these words just shot though my head, "Lord, help me love others just as you love them."  I drove the rest of the way home angry with my self that love and compassion were not the initial emotions and thoughts that came to me when I saw that man.  I came home then sat on my computer for more than 4 hours with a blank screen, rereading passages, watching the same news stories over and over again, and being sucked in to everything else than God's word.  At 1:15 I told Divan I couldn't do it tonight, started brushing my teeth, and remembered my drive home.  I'm now upstairs, D is still working downstairs, and my fingers can't stop moving.  Thankful for that. 

 

            So what does it mean to love others like Jesus did?  Like God did?  The chapters today show us what it means and how to do this.  Over and over again in Deuteronomy Moses reminds the Hebrew people of the last four decades and how God loved them.  "He choose them…loved [them] and kept the oath he swore to [their] forefathers." He would "bless" them and "increase their numbers" with obedience, and it also mentions a few times how God "brought" them out, or saved them from Egypt and the desert.  These OT chapters are a written image, or even a love letter to the Hebrews about how and why God loved them and protected them. 

 

            In Luke, Jesus shows us what love looks like.  This is a well known story about Jesus and a "sinful" woman, most likely a prostitute…a profession that still is looked down on and "sinful" in our society.  We see Jesus interacting with her and with the Pharisees…opposite sides of the tracks here.  Jesus shows how he loves by welcoming the woman, allowing her to wash his feet, put on the perfume, and kiss his feet.  He shows her love by never talking down to her, but the words he tells her are, "Your sins are forgiven…Your faith has saved you; go in peace."  That's all he said to her.  She was saved by these acts of faith, humility, and devotion.  But Jesus also loved the Pharesees.  He showed love and mercy to them by the ways he taught them.  He didn't roll his eyes at them, pull a face, or cross his arms at them.  He taught them though a story that glorified himself and the Father.  He was gentile to them and showed both sides of the tracks what it means to love one another.  Jesus loved all these people by dying for them all.  He didn't love one over the other, because it was all their sins he carried while on that cross.  He saves.  This is how God shows his love…by saving us.  Even looking at Psalm 69, the first words from David are, "Save me, O God."  David recognizes that in verse 13, "I pray to you, O Lord, in the time of your favor, in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation." 

            I see these passages as Love = Cross = Salvation.  That is how God loves people.  When I ask Jesus to teach me to love others like he loves them, that is what it comes to.  The cross.  My heart has been burdened this week especially when jumping on to social media, watching the news, and reading the headlines.  Our country is going through some big issues and debates now, but I'm praying for our leaders, I pray for my friends, and I pray for my family.  I pray that God will be glorified, and I pray that I would love as Jesus did.  I pray that God would teach me and mold my heart to love people – all the people that Jesus died for – with a love that He has.  I know I will never come close, but I can strive to love.  Just like that hymn I remember singing as a little girl, "They will know we are Christians by our love."  Continue to pray, continue to love, continue to obey as Moses taught, continue to sturdy and seek God's word.  My life has been transformed by it and I can see changes in me even in the last couple weeks.  God can truly transform out hearts, minds, and souls if we let Him.