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Good gifts
Friday, February 27, 2015
Friday of the First Week of Lent
Matthew 5:24
Jesus said, “Go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
Driving, I watch bumpers of the cars around me at intersections rather than faces. I think that’s defensive, because so many of the faces aren’t friendly. But I guess … neither is mine. I’m watching bumpers.
Shopping, I am very aware of the shortest checkout lines, the efficiency with which the cashiers work, and the amount of Stuff in everyone’s cart. Calculations of all kinds run through my head, all designed to speed up my exit. Sometimes I notice that there are People pushing every cart and running every register. They are all part of my family.
Dining, I am usually friendly to the servers. I was a waiter once, Margaret was a server at a nice restaurant in Lincoln, Marc is a server at Biaggi’s, one of the nicest Italian restaurants around. So I tip them, I chat with them, I smile, I want to bless them.
I know that when I take a moment to be friendly, the afterglow of well-being lasts awhile. I also know that my indifference to others leaves me colder and more isolated. That’s every time, without a doubt. One hundred percent. But in environments where I don’t feel accountable, I make the wrong choice far too often.
“What a wretched man I am!” Paul (in Romans 7) took this sinning seriously. Obviously Jesus did too. Be reconciled to your brother. That requires, first of all, that I REMEMBER that these folks I encounter every day really are my brothers and my sisters. Not just strangers in the night that I’ll never see again.
I have the feeling I’ll see them all again, actually. I think Jesus knew that for a fact and that is why he wants us to live like that was true.
Otherwise, God could care less about our “gifts.”
Lord, forgive me carelessness, my self-indulgence, my blind eye. Turn me up and out and toward my brother and my sister. Free me from fear. Teach me your ways, Jesus. Lead me in ways everlasting.
http://www.christiancounselingservice.com/archived_devotions.php?article_id=1341
