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Leviticus 19:33 & 34And if a stranger dwells temporarily with you in your land, you shall not suppress and mistreat him.But the stranger who dwells with you shall be to you as one born among you; and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
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To start this off I want to be clear about the fact that even the verses surrounding this particular scripture are things which could 'condemn' some of the best Christians out there... This is not my point here, mostly it is more about personal conviction than salvation. Now after saying my piece let us get to the fun!
How often are we resentful and most distrusting of the 'new' folks in our lives? I know with myself I am one to give one face in meeting and then slowly crack the shell until I can be myself fully. At times that can take a while... And longer depending on how many time we may have 'hung out'.
This part of scripture challenges me. Instead of seeing the temporary as such... It calls me to see it as a constant.. That I have known from the start! It seems an unfathomable way of thought, but I can think of times it has been easy, though the real question here is, 'how can I make it easy every time?'
From what I can tell from reading about Christ... He never met anyone that was 'strange' to Him. Of course they would see Him as strange for charging through those common walls 'manners' and 'society' have built around us. But, is not this truly what made Him so amazing?
Jesus was not worried about the thoughts and musings of others. His focus was always primarily on the Truth... of His Father and the goal His Father had given Him. I pray I can have the same attitude. To not be worried about 'thought' and 'musings' ... or even assumptions of others.. to just have a heart big enough to help those in need.. regardless of who they are or what they believe. I want to treat all I meet in the way this part of scripture is talking about.
Have met someone new recently? How did it go?
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Wow this verse would have helped me a couple of weeks ago. I actually had this same problem when someone new came along at work.
ReplyDeleteTo me he was a "stranger" that none of us new, and I was apprehensive and protective of the close group we had developed over the years. When I finally put my own misgivings, fears, and (let's face it) resistant prejudices aside, God opened my eyes to the fact that he was in fact the perfect and long-needed addition we had prayed for (indirectly, unknowingly).
Granted God had to put me in constant contact with him for a whole week in order to do it, but, hey, I'm stubborn. :P
Sometimes we need a blog to teach us something, sometimes we need life to teach us something ... just as long as you learn and apply to life.. it is a success!
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