Friday 4/11/14
When you hear the customary “How are you?” from others, do you ever wonder how many of them really want to know, and how many don’t even pay attention to your answer? There are so many who ask that question so matter-of-factly that they’ve earned themselves a reputation and don’t know it. I heard of a young man who wanted to put such a person to the test and when the other asked him “How’s it going”, he replied “I just murdered my entire family.” Do you know what the other person’s response was? He said “Oh, that’s nice.” The same goes when you see people meet in public. Do you ever wonder how many of their hugs, kisses, and compliments, are the real thing?
I was thinking of this Wednesday night as I sat in Pastor Mike’s Bible class in church. He was covering the 6th Chapter of Galatians, a favorite chapter of mine. The first part of it highlights our obligations to our Christian brethren with our motivation being our love and genuine concern for them. If we really love them, it will really matter to us when they are down and are going through tough times, and we should do whatever we can to help them. If we take the position that our brethren’s troubles are none of our business, are we really being that much different than Cain, the first murderer mentioned in the Bible? After his awful crime, the Lord asked him: “Where is your brother Abel?” He replied, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9)
On the other hand, a picture of compassion and true concern for our fellow man is Christ’s Parable of the Good Samaritan, found in the 10th Chapter of Luke. This man, moved with compassion, not only attended to the wounds of a stranger, he made provisions for his continued care while he was away. Later, he returned to see if the fellow was alright. Do you see the pattern here? God’s true children are motivated with genuine concern and they do whatever they can to help. When they can’t help directly, they give so that someone else can do the job. Then, they follow through to see if the task has been completed. Galatians 6:2 says that when we do such things, we are really fulfilling the law of Christ. We can’t really know what is in the hearts of people. Only God knows that. Nevertheless, we can suppose that many folks all around are faking it. Lets not be like that.
Memory verse for the week: (Proverbs 18:10) The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
