February 19, 2022

 

Start With You

 

You made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the LORD your God and said, ‘Pray to the LORD our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.’ I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the LORD your God in all he sent me to tell you. – Jeremiah 42:20-21

 

We are a divided land. The division isn’t between Democrats and Republicans, Liberals and Conservatives, Americans and the rest of the world. The division is between those who truly hear God’s words and those who merely pretend to do so.

 

We are so intent on getting our own way that we miss the truth. And what might that truth be? That we’re all wrong in how we choose to follow our God.

 

It’s not about us. How often do we throw those words out? And, yet, it is. It’s about our opinions and our comfort. It’s about what we think is best for us. We pick and choose what to believe, using God’s words for destruction rather than direction and healing.

 

Anne Lamott said this: You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.

 

Ouch.

 

God is love and compassion and healing. God calls us to help those who are hurting and have needs. He never tells us to pick and choose who is worthy. But we do.  We’ve decided that we’re superior to those who have less or live in a different country and that opinion has hardened our hearts toward those made in God’s image.

 

We ask God what we should do. We plead with Him to heal our land and turn people back to Him. Yet we’re the very ones who refuse to do as He says.

 

Do you truly want to turn others toward God? Do you really want everyone to follow Him? Then start with yourself. Let someone cut in front of you in traffic. Smile at a stranger. Donate, and volunteer, at a food pantry. Refuse to look down on people, choosing instead to show them the light of Jesus in all that you say and do. People are drawn to those who actually live their faith. Kindness and compassion reflect Jesus.

 

It's so easy to demand change from others. We’re really good at pointing fingers and judging circumstances we don’t fully understand. Instead, take a step back and asked God to put in you a clean heart.