Why Do We Make It So Hard?
Acts 15:12-21
Key
Verse: “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not
make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God (Acts 15:19
NIV)
Jesus
said, that we are to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Earlier in this same chapter Peter said that it is through faith in
Jesus Christ we are saved. So then why do we try to make it so hard.
Believe in Jesus and then live out that belief by living a life that
is marked by loving God and loving others. Sure it is deeper and
wider than that, but that is the sum of it. Love God, Love Jesus,
love the people in the world around us. We make lists of rules, rules
with lists. We work to live by them, check all the boxes, so others
can see how Holy we are. We hold others to these same standards, ask
them to jump through the difficult hoops we have made for ourselves.
We are struggling they should struggle too. Yes, living as Christ
called us to live is sometimes a difficult road to walk, so then why
do we try to make it harder? Why do we add to what Jesus said? To
what the the council of the early Church agreed is the basis of what
marks a life lived in Christ. Believe in Jesus Christ, love God, love
Jesus and love those around us. Start there, see where it leads. What
happens when we love everyone the same way we love God? What if we
all treated each person we encountered as if they were Jesus. I think
that is hard enough. And would radically change the way we all lived
our lives.
Prayer:
Lord,
why do I make what you have made simple so hard? Why do take you have
made clear so hard to see? Show me your love. Help me to live in your
love, and learn daily what it truly means to love you in return. Help
me to then take that love into the place I go, to the people I see,
share it with those around me. Help me to love Jesus, to love you and
to love all those around me. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment