Most of my posts are unplanned until the day of writing it. This is an example of that. In listening to a video by Eric Ludy, this verse popped into my head and has stuck there this evening. This probably won't be a terrifically long post, since I'm thinking as I'm writing, but I guess we'll see as we go!
Because it's late at night here, and I'm scraping by after only five hours of sleep last night, I'm not going to drag this post out. I would recommend reading Matt. 25:31-39 for the context of the verse I'll be writing about, but in a nutshell, it's a passage about Jesus speaking to believers about the things they did for Him on earth that they didn't realize was for Jesus. All of them are small, commonplace things we wouldn't think much of most of the time, but that Jesus proclaims were done for Him.
But it's broadened into a wider concept in v. 40. "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of the these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'"
That's a radical game changer. See, my service to God isn't shown by my fancy prayers and ornate spiritual language and trimmings. Apparently, how I serve my brother is how I serve my God. What a thought!
See, while we so often ignore the weak, the poor, the suffering, and the needy in favor of more "spiritual" or culturally accepted actions, we don't realize that how we treat those people is how we love God. Those actions toward them are my actions toward God.
And before we decide that "wow, okay, I need to change how I treat strangers then", I think we should take a moment and think about everyday life. This concept doesn't just apply to people I don't know. It applies to annoying brothers, irritating parents, authoritative coaches, arrogant friends, and so on. Showing love to the people we'd much rather ignore or even become bitter against is our act of service to God. Showing love to these people is literally loving God.
So, as we go through our weekly lives, I think we should consider this quite a lot. When we'd much rather have an attitude against the parent that continues to nag about taking the trash out, we need to remember that we show our love for God in the small, everyday things we'd rather ignore. When the irritating little brother or sister comes into your room and pesters you, taking time to be kind to them rather than a rude chasing away is showing love both from and to God.
I think this could be a life changing principle if we got it. See, it would make no act of service small. Rather, every action is for God, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. And that makes every action, not matter how seemingly unimportant, incredibly important! Suddenly, these small decisions are how I show my Christianity, not through huge, big decisions. It's in the small, day-to-day acts of love that God is seen most. And it's through those small acts of love we show our love for God.
Because it's late at night here, and I'm scraping by after only five hours of sleep last night, I'm not going to drag this post out. I would recommend reading Matt. 25:31-39 for the context of the verse I'll be writing about, but in a nutshell, it's a passage about Jesus speaking to believers about the things they did for Him on earth that they didn't realize was for Jesus. All of them are small, commonplace things we wouldn't think much of most of the time, but that Jesus proclaims were done for Him.
But it's broadened into a wider concept in v. 40. "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of the these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'"
That's a radical game changer. See, my service to God isn't shown by my fancy prayers and ornate spiritual language and trimmings. Apparently, how I serve my brother is how I serve my God. What a thought!
See, while we so often ignore the weak, the poor, the suffering, and the needy in favor of more "spiritual" or culturally accepted actions, we don't realize that how we treat those people is how we love God. Those actions toward them are my actions toward God.
And before we decide that "wow, okay, I need to change how I treat strangers then", I think we should take a moment and think about everyday life. This concept doesn't just apply to people I don't know. It applies to annoying brothers, irritating parents, authoritative coaches, arrogant friends, and so on. Showing love to the people we'd much rather ignore or even become bitter against is our act of service to God. Showing love to these people is literally loving God.
So, as we go through our weekly lives, I think we should consider this quite a lot. When we'd much rather have an attitude against the parent that continues to nag about taking the trash out, we need to remember that we show our love for God in the small, everyday things we'd rather ignore. When the irritating little brother or sister comes into your room and pesters you, taking time to be kind to them rather than a rude chasing away is showing love both from and to God.
I think this could be a life changing principle if we got it. See, it would make no act of service small. Rather, every action is for God, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. And that makes every action, not matter how seemingly unimportant, incredibly important! Suddenly, these small decisions are how I show my Christianity, not through huge, big decisions. It's in the small, day-to-day acts of love that God is seen most. And it's through those small acts of love we show our love for God.
Wow, this was great! And, coincidentally, this was what the pastor we heard yesterday spoke on, to the very passage you used. Thanks for the reminder that our actions towards others are our actions towards Christ. Oh, and thanks for reminding me about taking the trash out. :)
ReplyDeleteGood! I'm glad it made an impact!
DeleteYou said annoying brothers...is that from experience or tales from Defying Depravity?
ReplyDeleteI was speaking from experience. I'm sure you could toss sisters in there too, but since my sister isn't that way, that one's not an experience of mine. Most of the time.
DeleteGreat reminder, Taylor! I want to start thinking about this throughout my day and especially when I am working with my co-workers and such.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your midnight thoughts! ;) I always feel like my most deep or inspiring thoughts always happen way too late at night when I should be sleeping. ;)
I know, right? 90% of the time, I wind up blogging at midnight! Why can't these thoughts come to me at 8?
DeleteAgreed! Many of my thoughts come too late at night, and become forgotten in the morning.
ReplyDelete