Rev 21:6 “…To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.”
When I was in sixth grade, I won a storytelling contest by reciting James Patrick Kinney’s poem “The Cold Within.” It is about six people, each with a stick of firewood, trapped in bitter cold. Had they all put their wood together, they could have nurtured a blazing fire and saved themselves and each other. But because of one thing and another—skin color, religious affiliations, money or lack there of, spite—each person kept his wood, died with it clutched in his hand.
John 15:12 “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.”
Jesus loved people, and He wanted them to know a love and acceptance that transcends human understanding. He often associated with the lowest because He knew that they were hungry enough, thirsty enough to be open to His Father’s deep and abiding love. He never considered what was in it for Him but only how He could help others understand His Father’s eternal love.
Luke 10:27 … “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Lord, Thank You for this day and this lesson. I am guilty at times of holding back from others who are different from me, who scare me, but You want everyone to know Your great love. Help me to love others as You love me, Lord, deeply, fiercely, completely, holding nothing back and seeking to gain nothing save drawing others closer to You. Help me to show Your love to all, Lord. Amen.
Col 3:14 Above all, clothe yourself with love, which binds is all together in perfect harmony.
Have a blessed day.
My faith, my life, my teaching–it's all a work in progress.