Do You Owe Any Favors?

For me, D.L. Moody states it succinctly.  Having listened to an online audio sermon of his, “Consecrated to Christ”¹, a retelling of a conversation he had with a young man stuck in my head.  Paraphrasing:  Moody asks the young man, “Look out the window, what do you see?”  The young man answers, “People going about their lives.”  Moody asks him to look again, “What do you see?”  Young man answers, “People out in the rain.”  Moody asks again, “What do you see?”  The young man flustered asks, “What am I supposed to see?”  D.L. Moody replies, “Souls.” 

I liked that story.  Logic dictates if you care for the soul, caring for the physical well-being will follow.  Love is God’s essential quality that seeks the best interests of others, regardless of other’s actions, an affectionate well-being of others, the benevolent affection of God toward His creatures, and is commanded of believers(John 15:12).  It is seeing the creations of God—not enemies, not burdens, not tasks.  Understandably, this is much easier said than done, but love is strength of conviction.  One: to snatch others from the wide path leading to hell, and two: nurturing the growth of those on the narrow path to heaven. We may not be able to stand certain people, or just don’t feel like dealing with them, but we have to learn to look past the scabs of life and see with the Spirit’s eyes.  Straining to see the souls God encased in flesh, developing a looking-past-the-exterior mind-set.  This does not mean we have to be friends with everybody we meet, but we should in love watch out for other’s best interest—eternity.  “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar.  For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20). 

“God is love.  Whoever lives love lives in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16).  Claiming to be a Christian, while having no interest for the welfare of others, and stirring up dissent among believers is terribly hypocritical and of the devil.  Satan’s name means deceiver—he will trick us into believing we are living in the Spirit as hate, dissension, lack of caring and encouragement course through the heart.  Do not be misled—such a life is a lie before God.  This doesn’t mean we have lost our salvation; simply, we are living outside God’s loving will.  We cannot expect our prayers to be heard living in such duplicity.  “If (we) love those who love (us), what reward will (we) get?...And if (we) greet only our brothers, what are (we) doing more than others?  Do not even the pagans do that?” (Matthew 5:46-47). 

 

The world seeks every opportunity to criticize followers of Jesus, and we as His followers give ample ammunition by not living out His love—by being more concerned with our own lives, by being so caught up in the “rat race” we fail to slow down, stop, and listen to the needs of those around us.  Don’t think to yourself, “I’m too tired to lend an ear,” or “The next Christian who comes along will pick up my weight and I’ll return the favor next time.”  How many favors do you owe at this point in your walk by expecting the next fella to do what you should have done in the first place?  Nothing ever gets done; no love is ever displayed if we all wait for the next person to do it for us.  After all, if Jesus had that mind-set—where in “hell” would the world be now, literally? 

 

 

¹    D.L. Moody, “Consecrated to Christ,” Colonial Baptist Church,  http://media.colonial.org/node/1250