Day 40 “To be lovely we must love the unlovely.”

Day 40

Matthew 5:43-48 "You have heard it said, ‘you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet the brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

Every day at 7 a.m., he would walk in the door and begin cursing at the top of his deep penetrating voice. His words seemed to shake the very beams that held up the floor, and everyone turned away as he entered the room. The anger in his soul was obvious, and the very ugliness of it poured out of him with every word, much like that of sweat from a runner on a hot summer day. His former profession was a thug for organized crime; a man who used his strength and anger to collect overdue debts from those foolish and desperate enough to take out loans from the mob. As with many, my interaction with him remained distant and shallow by choice. My prayers focused on things like, “Why me Lord? Why has he chosen to do business here?” It was in one of those moments of prayer that I knew this man needed Jesus more than most I had ever met, and suddenly my prayers changed. Now I began to pray for him. I prayed that he would come in more often. I even prayed that we would be friends, and lo and behold, all my prayers were answered, even the prayer for this man to give his life to Christ.

You see, there is no one in this world that needs Jesus more than those who are lost, deceived, hurt, and desperate for love and compassion. If we are not God’s ambassadors upon this earth, then who will be? These lost, hurting people are the very ones we should be hanging out with; the ones we should be ministering to. How is it that we have become so consumed with being the perfect Christians that we have forgotten who needs us most? Yes, the gathering of believers is important, yet far more important is the drawing in of those who have yet to believe. Our goal should never be to gather on Sunday and close our doors to those on the outside–no, our goal should be to bring in the ones who have yet to enter. No one feels more unworthy to enter than they do; therefore, we must show them that no one is more worthy to enter in than they are.

Jesus is telling us over and over again, love the unlovely, bless those who curse you, bring hope to the hopeless, and so on. I challenge you today: do you believe that what you believe is for you and you alone? Or are you ready, willing, and determined enough to trust and obey God for the lost?

Daily Prayer: Father, I ask that you give us the strength, the desire, the ability beyond our own in order that we may love the unlovely and bring them into the presence of your glory. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

“To be lovely we must love the unlovely.”

Gene Burroughs, Servant