[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, October 2017]
Tensions in Spain, turmoil in Syria, unrest in lots of places around the world. Perhaps it’s the same for you at work, at school, at home? It’s no secret that people find it hard to get along with each other. We seem to major on the things that lead to discord and disharmony, rather than on things which should unite us.
An excerpt from the UCB Word for today devotional for the 28th of October is as follows:
“One day a man was getting his windscreen washed at a petrol station. When the attendant finished, the man said, ‘That’s a terrible job. Re-do my windscreen – it’s as dirty as when you started.’ So, the attendant wiped it again. The man looked it over and in frustration said, ‘That window hasn’t changed a bit.’
The man’s wife was sitting next to him in the car fuming. She reached over, pulled off his glasses, wiped them, and gave them back to him. The attendant had been doing his job correctly. The man himself was the problem all along.”
The devotional went on to explain about how what we look through affects what we actually see.
I am all too aware of how even with my glasses on, I have often not seen clearly and jumped to wrong conclusions about people and how thankful I am to God that they couldn’t read my thoughts!
If you are anything like me, you will have certain people that are a joy to be with and some who seem to have a talent for winding you up. Jesus knew about this (even his disciples jostled for position. Luke 9:46 states that an argument started amongst the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest). Jesus, however, didn’t allow that it was any excuse for us not to get on with each other. He commanded us to love our enemies; we are told in His word not to forsake the assembly of one another. It is clear that we cannot do this in our own strength. We need His Spirit in us to help us.
There is no doubt that when you are in the midst of people where Jesus’ love is manifest, it is a wonderful experience. This is probably why Jesus said: ‘by this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love, one for another’ (John 13 v35). When people see this love manifest amongst Jesus’ followers, they are almost certain to ask: ‘How do they do it?’
That’ll be your cue for telling them about Christ and all he has done for you.
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