Today's Journey
Jan.14,2013
http://getmorestrength.org
“Love your neighbor as yourself” Mark 12:31
A
few years ago my wife Martie and I had an opportunity to travel to Hong
Kong for a ministry trip.
One of the highlights of the trip was
spending time with some fascinating people who are actively engaged in
ministry.
One evening, I spent time with a graduate of Moody Bible
Institute who happened to be in Hong Kong on a brief furlough from his
church-planting ministry in the Philippines. He and his wife and two
children, one of whom has Down’s syndrome, work among the poorest of the
poor in the slums of Manila.
Another Moody graduate, whose
husband died suddenly after just a few years of marriage, had stayed in
Hong Kong as a missionary. She was on her way to Mongolia (on an airline
that serves yak as the entrée!) to spend a week with some other
missionaries so that she could be a resource and encouragement to them.
We
also had lunch with Dave and Theresa Magee who, along with their two
teenage children, had only been in Hong Kong for 3 months. Dave had just
left a lucrative legal career in Chicago, attended seminary, and then
become the pastor of an English-speaking church in Hong Kong.
We
also met a veteran missionary couple who had served Christ in Hong Kong
for over 35 years and were preparing to retire from the mission. When we
asked what they would do after retirement, they beamed, telling us
their plans to go into Mainland China to plant a church.
I
couldn’t help but think that Jesus knows He is loved deeply by these
people. I was struck by the fact that they are driven by what drives
Christ, and they are committed to what He is committed to—the needs of
people.
Not long after I returned from Hong Kong, a pastor friend
told me of a couple in his church who, after deciding they had made
enough money, sold everything to open an AIDS clinic to reach out in
Christ’s name to some of the neediest people; and of a businessman who
turned down a lucrative and much-sought-after promotion because the
amount of travel required would take him away from his children too
much.
Not all of us will be called to such radical and risky
expressions of love for Christ, but He is always interested in our love
for Him. A quick glance at our day-timer planner, checkbook ledger, or
social calendar will probably reveal whether Christ feels truly loved by
us—or not.
When one of the Pharisees asked Jesus which Old
Testament commandment was the greatest, I find it interesting that He
didn’t limit it to just one. He began with the “most important
one”—namely, to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” He
continued, “The second one is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no commandment greater than these.”
The point is clear.
We prove our love for God by giving of ourselves to the needs of others.
That’s why Jesus connected the two commands. You can’t do one without
the other. You can’t say you love God and ignore the needs of people.
And you can’t really get fired up to love people until you are deeply
committed to loving God. That’s exactly why Jesus interrogated Peter
three times and said, in essence, if we truly love Jesus we will care
about what He cares about—the needs and nurture of people (John 21:15-17).
Like
the friends I met in Hong Kong, I want to be regularly, actively loving
the “neighbors” in my life as a way of putting my love for God on
display. I wonder what that would look like in your world?
YOUR JOURNEY…
- Do you know someone whose life and ministry displays a deep love for Christ? If so, take a moment to write them a note of appreciation and encouragement today.
- Would others say that you are one of those people? Why or why not?
- Who are the “neighbors” in your life, and what can you do to display your love for God by loving them? Remember, some of your “neighbors” might live in your house and be in your extended family.
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