“Thou shall love thy neighbour.”

(Matthew 5:43) “Thou shall love thy neighbour.”

On the back of yesterdays thoughts not to waste our lives, to ensure that we store up treasure in heaven where moth and rust cannot destroy. Our jewels will be eternal an everlasting cache, and their makeup will have everlasting properties. Even our bodies will be eternal; they will be like our great Saviours incorruptible risen body! “Our hope” is so full of merciful promises that we must be captivated by the truth of it; nothing must take more precedence in our lives than finding the will of God for it. Do not go on a witch-hunt looking for personal people to prophesy over you as if you are looking for some magical spell to motivate you in a certain direction. We must be careful of that type of application in our lives. We must test the spirits, and how would we do that? The Word of God of course! No magic formula is needed to work out God’s will for our lives, all we need do on a daily basis is seek His face, be faithful to a local body of believers, look to deny ourselves where and when the opportunity presents itself and love our neighbour as ourselves.

“Love thy neighbour.” Perhaps he rolls in riches, and thou art poor, and living in thy little cot side-by-side with his lordly mansion; thou seest every day his estates, his fine linen, and his sumptuous banquets; God has given him these gifts, covet not his wealth, and think no hard thoughts concerning him. Be content with thine own lot, if thou canst not better it, but do not look upon thy neighbour, and wish that he were as thyself. Love him, and then thou wilt not envy him.

Perhaps, on the other hand, thou art rich, and near thee reside the poor. Do not scorn to call them neighbour. Own that thou art bound to love them. The world calls them thy inferiors. In what are they inferior? They are far more thine equals than thine inferiors, for “God hath made of one blood all people that dwell upon the face of the earth.” It is thy coat which is better than theirs, but thou art by no means better than they. They are men, and what art thou more than that? Take heed that thou love thy neighbour even though he be in rags, or sunken in the depths of poverty.

But, perhaps, you say, “I cannot love my neighbours, because for all I do they return ingratitude and contempt.” So much the more room for the heroism of love. Wouldst thou be a feather-bed warrior, instead of bearing the rough fight of love? He who dares the most, shall win the most; and if rough be thy path of love, tread it boldly, still loving thy neighbours through thick and thin. Heap coals of fire on their heads, and if they be hard to please, seek not to please them, but to please thy Master; and remember if they spurn thy love, thy Master hath not spurned it, and thy deed is as acceptable to him as if it had been acceptable to them. Love thy neighbour, for in so doing thou art following the footsteps of Christ.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

Over the last 100 years the increase of earthquakes are the highest they have ever been, the word of God has warned us when we see these things on the increase, it is the warning. We commute in motor vehicles and rely on warning gauges to warn us of any potential danger, if we have an oil leak a warning light on the dashboard comes on and then will give us time to address the potential danger before it is too late, before our cars breakdown. It is exactly the same with the Word of God, it is full of warning gauges, but will we sit up and take note? I trust we will!

Here is one of those warnings; “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” (Matthew 24:7-8)

You may say earthquakes have always been around, and you would be correct, but never to the degree have they now occurred! You may be young and say to yourself I have many years in which to love my neighbour, the end may be sooner than you think. We must stop wasting time and seek earnestly to glorify God with our lives, regardless of what we have done in the past. Today is the day of salvation, may we live as if it was our last day for our King here on earth. Let us not look for secret missions but rather let us live life as Christ has commanded us to live, “Thou shall love thy neighbour.”

Signing off

Tyrone