Catechism--Fifth Commandment--You shall not murder. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need.
Proverbs 31:8--Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.
Devotion--You may have noticed, as you have been reading the various meanings of the commandments, that there is almost always a negative part of the meaning (describing the things that we do not do) and a positive part of the meaning (describing the things that we do in keeping the commandment). We see this in particular with the fifth commandment, as it describes our help and support of our neighbor in his need.
That's not something that we may often think about. Of course we know that murdering is wrong in God's eyes and against the commandment. But it's probably not often that we think of those times when we've had the opportunity to help someone by caring for their needs, and we've neglected to do so, and seen that as a breaking of the commandment. Our tendency is to focus on the "Do Not" parts rather than the "Be Doing This" parts.
As we think about the fifth commandment, how can you work for the betterment of one of your neighbors today? One of the things we will realize as we think about the commandments in this way is that we will never run out of ways to do this. We have so many neighbors as we live in this world, and there are so many needs, and we are limited by our time and our resources and our abilities. Of course, we can never take up every opportunity that presents itself, and we are thankful for God's forgiveness for that through Jesus and the cross.
At the same time, we recognize that there are those opportunities that we can do something about. We can promote the betterment of our neighbors and their lives. When we come across an opportunity and we have the resources, we can and should work to help them in such a need.
How can you promote the betterment of your neighbor today? This week? How can you show someone else that this is God's will for them in their life?
Prayer--Lord God, Your commands are not only about the things we are to avoid, but about how we take action according to Your grace. Help us to see those opportunities in which we can serve our neighbor and demonstrate our love toward them. May we be active in these, for the sake of our neighbor, and for the sake of Christ. In His name we pray. Amen.
Proverbs 31:8--Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.
Devotion--You may have noticed, as you have been reading the various meanings of the commandments, that there is almost always a negative part of the meaning (describing the things that we do not do) and a positive part of the meaning (describing the things that we do in keeping the commandment). We see this in particular with the fifth commandment, as it describes our help and support of our neighbor in his need.
That's not something that we may often think about. Of course we know that murdering is wrong in God's eyes and against the commandment. But it's probably not often that we think of those times when we've had the opportunity to help someone by caring for their needs, and we've neglected to do so, and seen that as a breaking of the commandment. Our tendency is to focus on the "Do Not" parts rather than the "Be Doing This" parts.
As we think about the fifth commandment, how can you work for the betterment of one of your neighbors today? One of the things we will realize as we think about the commandments in this way is that we will never run out of ways to do this. We have so many neighbors as we live in this world, and there are so many needs, and we are limited by our time and our resources and our abilities. Of course, we can never take up every opportunity that presents itself, and we are thankful for God's forgiveness for that through Jesus and the cross.
At the same time, we recognize that there are those opportunities that we can do something about. We can promote the betterment of our neighbors and their lives. When we come across an opportunity and we have the resources, we can and should work to help them in such a need.
How can you promote the betterment of your neighbor today? This week? How can you show someone else that this is God's will for them in their life?
Prayer--Lord God, Your commands are not only about the things we are to avoid, but about how we take action according to Your grace. Help us to see those opportunities in which we can serve our neighbor and demonstrate our love toward them. May we be active in these, for the sake of our neighbor, and for the sake of Christ. In His name we pray. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment