We are fragile. None of us know the day or time of our death. There’s 7.6 billion people on the earth right now and sometime in the next 85 years or so, everyone in existence will be gone.
The process with which we leave this earth is confusing. Death has been top of mind since the pandemic started. I don’t like to think about death. As I look at the culture and the way that we are handling this, I can’t help but think that we are ‘killing each other.’
And I’m not talking about a physical death — but an emotional, mental and spiritual death that is greatly driven by our inability to follow the golden rule. Where did this rule come from? I’m not sure, but the concept is not unfamiliar to those who study Jesus’ life and his teaching.
It’s important for us to stand behind our conviction, however we must also acknowledge what others around us are going through very difficult days. It is far too easy for people to jump to conclusions. We’ll all experience death personally — whether it’s our own or our loved ones — but right now our collective actions are causing us to give into “death,” prematurely.
Today I want to challenge us to give life to those around us — especially when the days we find ourselves in to be particularly difficult.
Oddly enough, it’s not easy to treat people the way you would want to be treated, and Jesus knew this and reminds his followers. It’s easy for me to believe that I have been wronged deeply by others or by society and that I must lash out. Let’s see what Jesus has to say about “The Golden Rule.”
As we look into Mark chapter 12 starting at verse 28, we see a story that involved people debating rules; public debate is a key component of humanity. As the debating continued, someone asked Jesus, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
Jesus gives two answers. He starts with, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” And he ends with, “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
To put it another way, the back half of Jesus’ answer is “The Golden Rule.”
When we decide to put our faith in Jesus, he offers us life, and life abundantly. Not only an eternal life, but his kingdom starting today. For those of you that know Jesus, I challenge you to remind yourself every day to love God and love people — following the two commandments that Jesus laid out to his disciples 2,000 years ago. If you don’t know Jesus, I urge you to look deeply into the scriptures. Pro tip: start with the book of John, not Genesis.
Know that Jesus has a plan for your life, and he loves you. Death is at our doorstep, and not just during a pandemic, but Jesus offers us life, starting today — right now.
It’s shocking to realize that all 66 books in the Bible lead us to our calling, our vocation as residents of earth — to fully love God and love people. Loving people is a lot easier when we acknowledge that each of us have been uniquely created by God, and he values every one of us.
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September 17, 2021 at 11:00PM
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