What Does Your Heart Say?
“Nothing outside a person can
defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that
defiles them.” – Mark
7:15
“For it is from within, out
of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come – sexual immorality, theft,
murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and
folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
– Mark 7:21-23
What would you do to save your child’s life? Would you
move? Would you scrape together all the money you could to afford something
different? Would you break laws, take chances, risk everything, so your child
could be safe?
Be honest. It’s just between you and God. Tell Him
what you would do to save your child from death, torture, a life of crime and
violence. Now tell parents from another country that they shouldn’t dare do
that for their children.
The immigration issue in the United States is awful.
There are no easy answers. Should our country protect its borders? Absolutely.
Should people enter legally rather than violating our laws? Without a doubt.
Unfortunately, there’s more to the story. These are human
beings with thoughts and feelings. They are people who, in many cases, are
filled with fear and a desperation few can understand.
According to news reports, the average time for a
person to come before an immigration judge is two years from the time of
application. That works great if you’ve got the time. But what happens when the
cartel tells your child that he now works for them and if he says no he will
die? Do you hang around and wait for his death? Do you tell him to join hands
with a life of violence? Or do you flee with a hope deep in your heart that God
wants something better for your family?
I don’t have any answers for our country. No one seems
to be able to solve this mess. Maybe we should start with being Jesus to people
who are hurting. Maybe we should extend mercy and grace and compassion to
people who are desperate. Maybe we should love before we judge stories we’ve
never heard.
We are further traumatizing children who have been
through so much. Can you imagine what it’s like to leave everything you know,
fearing for your life, not knowing when you will eat or have clean clothes,
only to reach safety and find yourself ripped apart from your parents? How can we
call that okay?
Some argue that we’re trying to keep murderers and
rapists and other violent criminals from our country. That’s obviously a good
thing. But how many fit that description? Really. It’s far more likely that most
of the people are good, decent folks. They aren’t criminals. They’re desperate
people reaching for our crumbs and we are denying them without even trying to
understand.
Maybe we need to expedite the immigration process. How
many judges does it take to reduce the two-year wait? Yes, it costs money. But
how much money are we spending on housing people in locked facilities? Isn’t it
better to hear their cases and make decisions based on facts?
There is just so much hate in our country right now.
Much of it comes from people who claim to know Jesus. I am appalled at the venom
spewing from their mouths. Surely, they understand what the Bible says about
love, about judgement, about mercy. But their lives don’t reflect it. Their
words don’t reveal love.
Jesus says that evil comes from our hearts. What is
your heart saying to the world?
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