Radical Love
Luke 10:2 “He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
“It is not our job to ripen the harvest; it is our job to enjoy the harvest.” Over the past few weeks, I have been hearing this principle of missional living and looking for evidence of it in my life. After the message last Sunday, I leaned over to my wife, Joy, and said - “we need to pray for one of our neighbors.”
The neighbor I was speaking of is a young family, and the wife is from France. We learned on Saturday that she would be departing for France to visit her family for a month. So on Sunday during the message, I felt compelled to pray for this family before she left for France. Honestly, my plan was to go on Sunday afternoon. But, we got busy and forgot. The next morning I thought - “we blew it.” We missed an opportunity to pray for our neighbor before her departure.
By God’s grace, my son and I were cutting the grass together on Monday, and I saw the wife putting luggage in her car. So I thought, here is our chance to bless them with a prayer. I went in and told Joy about the opportunity, and we gathered the kids together and went over to their house. As they were walking out the door, we were walking up their drive. We told them that we wanted to say good bye, then I asked, “Do you mind if we pray for you?” Guess what they said…”yes!” We formed a circle and prayed together. We got to enjoy them and minister to them.
Let me tell you why this is so marvelous. We have been loving this family for over a year and a half. (Not just us, but our whole neighborhood.) They have visited our congregation but not on a regular basis. I am OK with this because I love this family whether they come to our church or not. I’ve got to tell you - enjoying them is much better than pursuing them to come to our church building.
Let’s all be reminded, “God will not ask us how much we know, he will ask us how much we love.” I challenge you to get out there and enjoy someone by loving them, all to the glory of our Savior Jesus!
Lord Jesus, your enduring and selfless love is not only our refuge, it is also our model. As we cling to your saving grace, may it inspire us to acts of courageous love. Amen!
Today’s devotion was prepared by Pastor Lonnie Gonzales, the youth and family Pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Nassau Bay, Texas. Visit their website by clicking here.