Lately I’ve been a little discouraged in people and the world around me. Nothing in the news is positive anymore, and there’s so much pain and suffering–even in my small town.
When we moved into our home almost a month ago, I got really excited about the idea of getting to meet our neighbors and letting them come introduce themselves to us. But that didn’t happen. I was actually shocked and a little hurt because I felt like the people I surround myself with are hospitable, and I just assume that everyone else is, too. I think that’s the part of me that wants to see good in everyone. But it didn’t happen and I decided that once mine and Dustin’s schedules meshed, I would bake cookies and we would take them to all of our neighbors to introduce ourselves. (We’re still waiting on that time to do that but it’s going to happen soon!)
Yesterday it seemed that God used a lot of little things to prove that His love for me is the ultimate–that I don’t find my joy in others but only in God and worshiping Him. In everything that happened to me yesterday, God reminded me to not wait for people to come to me, but to love and pursue those in my path because we are all made in God’s image.
Yesterday after I got home from my workshop, I was eating supper and playing around online. I was on The Gospel Coalition site when I read an article about Leviticus. Reading this article really encouraged me to do a study in Leviticus because of this excerpt:
“So while Leviticus emphasizes the importance of maintaining distinctions between the sacred and the non-sacred, the holy and the non-holy, it also emphasizes that everyday acts of kindness and love and mercy are incredibly sacred, incredibly holy, because they show forth the incredible kindness, love, and mercy of the One who is ultimately sacred and holy.”
Then right before I was about to leave for church the doorbell rang. It was three kids from a house down the street with a pie! As soon as I opened the door they said, “Welcome to the neighborhood!” I could have cried at the kindness shown to Dustin and I. I refrained myself from stooping down and hugging all three of those children, but their small action reminded me to rest in the Lord’s sovereignty over everything.
It was so good!
Last night I really sat and reflected on neighborly love. I feel a mission here living in this new neighborhood, and I can’t wait to meet everyone and build relationships in order to reach the lost on my street. But I remembered that article on Leviticus and how it talked about neighborly love being more than just sharing the Gospel, but that it also includes things like extending mercy and pursuing reconciliation and being just and fair because all of these things show them God’s mercy and love for us. God’s love for us is the ultimate because he loves and wants us so much that while we were still sinners, He sent His only Son to live a perfect life as 100% human and 100% God, to die the death that we deserved to die on that cross in order that we might have a relationship with Him. Please email me if you have any questions about this!
