Today's promise: God pursues us with his
love
Who is "the
least" in your life?
I assure you, when you
did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it
for me!
Matthew 25:40 NLT
Loving the Least
I remember a poster on a
dorm-room wall during my days in college. The poster was a picture of a
homeless man lying in a dirty gutter holding a bottle in a paper bag by his
side. The inscription on the bottom was a quote from Mother Teresa. It read, "You
love Jesus only as much as the person you love the least."
For all we don't
understand about the life of Jesus and the true nature of God, there is one
truth that he made completely clear. The Christian faith is about service and
humility. It's about helping those who can't help themselves. It's about loving
others more than we love ourselves — even the most unlovable among us.
What is the sign of true
followers? Is it the amount of knowledge that we have? Is it the money we give
to missions? the degrees we've earned? the number of people we've preached to?
the hours we've spent worshiping in church? the books we've read or written?
According to Jesus, the
sign of the saved is their love for the least.
It is said that when
Francis of Assisi left his wealth behind to seek God, he stripped naked and
walked out of the city. The first person he encountered on his journey was a
leper on the side of the road. He first passed him, then turned back. He
embraced the leper in his arms before continuing his journey. A few steps down
the road he turned and saw that the leper was gone. Until his dying day,
Francis of Assisi was convinced that the leper was Jesus. Even if he was wrong,
he was right.
Adapted from Embracing Eternity by Tim LaHaye, Jerry
Jenkins and Frank M. Martin,, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), p 3
Content is derived
from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale
Publishing House
No comments:
Post a Comment