Thoughts for another day

May 30, 2006

Today's verse: Eze. 22:30. And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. (KJV).

I have heard people say, it’s a privilege to be a Christian. I ask why and the answer I get is, we worship a God who’s proved His love for us. Now this very God gave us the way of love and also in His Kingdom, the stones, the pillars, the foundation, etc. are all ‘love’. When Jesus was asked, which is the greatest commandment, He said it is to love God. And He followed it and said, there is a second one, and that is to love the neighbor. Most of us are comfortable loving God (what kind of love?…I don’t know, see 1 John 4:20) but when it concerns our neighbor, how much of love do we have?

I can fall back on experience and say that very few among us do that. Just yesterday, I had a scrap with my neighbor and then I went to pray and I couldn’t pray. God cannot be with us when we offend our fellow human beings. Therefore we need to be cautious in this area. I will always maintain that you don’t need overt signs of display of love for your neighbor but you need to restrain yourself when it concerns them. You have to be patient, kind and of a helpful nature and then they will come to know Christ.
Now God is looking to us to include our neighbor in our scheme of things. If you look at the above verse, you will see God saying that He is looking for someone to stand in the gap and pray. To pray for another requires a level of selflessness. It requires going beyond the call of duty, in a way. It requires having inside of you, a basic love of another human being who is not of your family or a friend. Jesus when asked who is my neighbor tells the story of the ‘good Samaritan’ and we are to be like him. Today my friend, we renew our commitment to be on God’s side and pray for our neighbor. Let it not be again noted in the annals of God’s Words that, ‘I looked but didn’t find anyone.’ But rather let it be ‘I am the one who will pray’. May the God of Mercy touch your soul right now even as you pray for your neighbor.