"But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Luke 10:29
I love how God can speak to us through our life circumstances. I love that he is with us through everything if we are willing to listen.
Last week I was riding to Indy with a friend. He was pulled over for speeding. The officer approached our car, stated his name, and told my friend he was being pulled over for doing 73 in a 55.
As the officer ran the driver's license and processed the necessary information in his patrol car, my friend had an ongoing conversation with himself that went something like this….
"I couldn't have been going that fast."
"There's no way he could have clocked me that far away."
"He'll give me a ticket; I'm sure of it."
"I had my cruise set at 62, and I might have been over that a little, but not 73."
My comment was, "So even if you weren't going 73 you were speeding, right?"
After a few minutes, my friend conceded that yes, he was speeding and he deserved a ticket. Case settled. He was wrong. But why did it take him so long to admit it? Because just like all of us, we don't want to be wrong. However, what made me laugh was I heard the the radio and It is well with my soul was being played in the background.
It made me think that we cause ourselves a lot of undo stress trying to justify our wrongs. We could have instant peace if we only stopped, came face-to-face with God and admitted our mistakes and sins. He already knows. He witnessed us. We are caught redhanded, but we just can't let our pride go and admit that we again fell short.
In today's scripture, Jesus is having a conversation with an expert in the law. The lawyer is asking what he must do to enter eternal life. The lawyer basically says to Jesus, "I know I must love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength and love my neighbor as myself." The lawyer however, knows that loving his neighbor is a hard command to keep. Perhaps he is even being convicted of sins toward a brother in Christ. So, he asks for clarification on who exactly would be considered his neighbor. He asked not because he didn't' really understand, but rather because he knew what Jesus was expecting of him, and he didn't want to be held accountable! Just like my speeding friend; If he didn't admit that he knew the truth, he didn't have to deal with it.
Lord, you want us to trust you with our mistakes. There is nothing we can do today to make you love us more or less, so help us to be honest with you so that we can remain in your peace. Lord, even when life is hard or when we fail, let us be able to honestly say, "It is well with my soul." Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment
We would love to hear from you!