My family is out of town for a few days and I just new I had to get on top of a few things. One of the things I wanted to do was shake up my Bible time a little bit. I felt like God needed me to see people from a different perspective than I’ve been seeing them. So, I grabbed my iTouch and went to ride a city bus for a while in hopes of seeing people through the lens of the Gospel.
I started listening to the Gospel of Luke (Get you MP3 of the New Testament at FCBH). In Luke’s account we hear story after story of healings that took place with those encountering Jesus. I couldn’t help but look out at the people around me on the bus and wonder if there was some healing that needed to take place in their lives.
When you ride a bus and see the lesbian couple sitting in front of you, smell the smokers that sit just a seat away from you, smell the b.o. of the guy who refuses to sit but just stands in the aisle a few feet ahead of you (and yes, all of those really did happen in this one bus ride today), the Gospel begins to mean something a little different. How does Luke 6:32-36 resonate with you when your amidst strangers? Is it any different than when you’re sitting in your living room, bedroom, or church reading it? To me, I saw through different eyes. Here’s what it says:
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Now, I need to learn to put it (the Gospel) into action. That’s the tough part.
