10/12/17
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”…surely we must be reading that wrong! Surely there must be some sort of miscommunication here between God and us! Surely this was supposed to say “hate your enemies and curse those who persecute you”, right?
Try as we might to make this verse say something different, something more pleasing to our ears, something that comes
a little more naturally to us, we can’t! It’s right there in black and white and God did not misspeak! He meant exactly what He said. We are commanded to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us! So, let’s get busy loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us!
Easier said than done, isn’t it? How in the world does God expect us to love people who have hurt us, done us wrong, and who possibly may hate us? How does He expect us to pray for those who are intent on bring us pain, who are hurting us, and who live to see us destroyed? He expects us to do that which seems impossible through Him and through Him only! It is no surprise to Him that we cannot love our enemies and pray for our persecutors on our own! He knows that, in our humanness, if is virtually impossible for us to do what He is asking us to do. However, even though He knows we can’t do it on our own, He doesn’t take the command away. He still expects our obedience. Why? Because He knows we will have to depend on Him to do it and He knows that our obedience will bring us peace where conflict once resided. He knows our obedience is in our best interest, so He asks us to do the impossible!
What will our answer be?
The Wisdom of Deacons by Dan Pegoda
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Today's Bible Verse...
We have sinned, even as our fathers did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly. —Psalm 106:6
Thoughts on Today's Verse...
Sin is nothing new. The candor of Scripture allows us to see the stupidities and rebelliousness of God's people in the past. We can be convicted by their lost opportunities and the disasters they brought upon themselves. We can also be reminded how little difference there often is between them and us.
My Prayer...
Father, I know my sin, my rebellion, and my unfaithfulness have hurt you and your cause today every bit as much as the sins of those in the Bible hurt in the past. Please forgive and strengthen me as I seek to live a life holy and pleasing to you and a blessing to those around me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.
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