Okay, we can see from this passage, that there definitely is a line in God's eyes of right and wrong. What defines it? Jesus basically says in vs. 34-36
"Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick, and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.
The righteous will answer Jesus,
"Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you, thirsty and and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?"
vs. 40
"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers, you did for me."
He answered, "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear."
As Christians, we are represented by the good seeds that grow to be the wheat. The whole point of this is that the weeds can kill out the good seeds. Who do we surround ourselves with socially? When I was a teenager, my mom used to say,"I don't like you hanging around so and so, they are not a good influence on you." I was always annoyed when she said that, but she had a point. Do we surround ourselves with friends that encourage us to be better Christians? Where is our balance? As adults, we are still influenced. Are you influenced at work in a positive or good way, what about at the health club or play group? These are all questions that I ask myself. There are so many aspects we could discuss from this...but the point is, in the end, God does have a line here.
I think the key in these passages is defining what some of these things are literally in our own lives. I hope that this gives us something to mill over for the next week. Please comment and share some of your thoughts. I liked what Elice said in the last post, the fact that we are wondering where the line is, is a really good sign. If we did not care, then we would probably be going down a more slippery slope! Have a good week!!
CB
3 comments:
It seems to me that the point of the wheat and the tares is who planted them. Christ planted the seed that grew the wheat and Satan planted the seed that grew the tares. From what seed does my life grow? Does it grow out of the teachings of Christ in his word? Does it grow from the seeds of popular philosophy, the seeds of the media, or the ideas of my friends or family members? In the end, there will be a separation. Another passage says, "Every seed that my Father did not plant will be rooted up." Who planted the plant that is your life?
Levite
One of my struggles recently is finding the line between showing compassion to a "difficult person" and being taken advantage of/feeling as though my family is being endangered. We have thought, and talked, and prayed, and cried, and been angry, and asked for help, and been disappointed, and you name it... As the struggle continues we are simply exhausted with finding this line, often feeling differently at different times in the same day even.
Here's where we've landed (for the time being, at least): God gives each of us different gifts. Some people are simply better equipped, more gifted for dealing with the "difficult people." This is not an excuse for not showing compassion...it is just an acknowledgement that some of us are BETTER equipped to do this. Simply put, there are other people in our situation that are in a better place for taking care of this person. Just because this person is in our lives does not mean that we are the only ones that can show her compassion. We have come to a place, with this specific person anyway, that we do not feel guilty for not dropping everything to help her, or even for avoiding her when we see her. We are resting well at night knowing that someone else, more gifted to deal with this person, is doing so, and our family is safer for it.
This concept obviously cannot apply to all situations, and is a very slippery slope, as well. But I firmly believe that it is a place to which we have been prayerfully led. We just need to be looking for other places, other people on whom to show compassion...because more than likely WE are the ones who are the best equipped to handle someone else.
I like what Rachel has discussed about where to draw our lines of compassion. I think lines in the sand can be brushed away and re-drawn with people in situations. I think that the holy spirit gives us discernment as to when to move the line closer or further from ourselves. At times I have overwhelming compassion for the hurting people out there and other times I have a wall of protection that I closely guard and I believe this vast contrast is the splended spirit of God guiding me if I am able to recognize and take notice of the leading.
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