We Must Be Like God
Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” (Mt 5:43-45)
Here’s where “the rubber meets the road”.
Jesus told His people that he expected them to be perfect, just as their heavenly Father was perfect.
What better way to prove the perfection of God than to make the sun rise on the bad as well as the good, the rain to fall on the just as well as the unjust?
That kind of concept was extremely hard for the people to hear.
Shifting out of the past tense, that kind of concept is extremely hard for us to hear.
We do not like to think of good things happening to people we do not like. To think that an enemy might be just as blessed as us simply gnaws at the nerve of most Christians. This is one of the hardest things to hear.
Thank God that He is the one in charge of the universe rather than any of us.
If we had it our way, the universe would be a very empty place because we would probably get rid of a whole lot of people!
God created us all out of love and He loves His entire creation equally, unconditionally.
He wants us to do the same.
FAITH ACTION: Bring a person to mind for whom you have very little regard and believe to be your enemy. Pray for that person today. Ask God to bless that person.