TODAY IS…

an awesome day to follow the example set by Jesus.

“I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.”  John 13:15 NLT

We are all familiar with the lesson taught by Jesus that instructs us to, “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.” (Matthew 7:12a NLT).

Many of us learned this, and teach it to our children as to our children as “The Golden Rule”.

Some may consider what Jesus said to His disciples after He washed their feet as simply another way of saying the Golden Rule, but it is far more than that.

Think about our relationship with the Lord compared to our relationship with those around us. We probably treat God with more respect than we do our next door neighbor. We are all very likely to fall all over ourselves to please God, but are only mildly concerned with what those around us think.

Of course, this makes sense since we ask so much more of God, right?

Actually, this is far from right. What Jesus was teaching His followers is that if we are to ask for God’s mercy, then we must show mercy to others. If we are to ask God for His love, then we must take the love He gives us and share it.

How can we ask the Lord to treat us right if we treat others wrong?

Where do we find the nerve to ask God to hold out His arms for us if we are not willing to hold out our arms for others?

How can we ask God to give us eyes with which to see and then not use our sight to notice another person’s tears or pain?

It is a good thing to treat others the way we want them to treat us. This is important, because Jesus said it was. But it is even more telling of our understanding of what Jesus said if we treat those around us the way we want God to treat us.

We must learn for ourselves, and teach our children, that we must never ask the Lord for anything we are not prepared to willingly share with those around us.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson