The other side of the gate. Daily Devotional - June 28, 2010

Daily Bible Reading: Deuteronomy 33, Psalm 120, Isaiah 60, Matthew 8

Last night my husband and I went out to dinner together. We don't go out to eat often but we splurged on our date went to a nice Thai restaurant and sat outside. On one side of the gate there were beautiful flowers, trendy plates, amazing food and white linens. Although my dinner was heavenly and the conversations with my husband were full of laughter and joy, I couldn't help but watch as occasionally a man would walk by on the other side of the gate pushing a shopping cart full of all his belongings. As I made eye contact with them, my heart broke. It felt wrong for us to be on one side of the gate in blessing while another was on the other side in suffering.

In Matthew Chapter 8, Jesus was at a place in his life where things were going pretty good for him. He wasn't yet at a point where he was being persecuted or beaten. His ministry is growing rapidly, he is casting out demons and gathering faithful disciples. In verse 5 another individual who has experienced success as a centurion approaches Jesus. He pleads with Jesus to heal his suffering servant. He tells Jesus that he isn't worthy for Jesus to even come to his house, but to simply say the word and his servant will be healed. Jesus is amazed at his faith and proclaims it to be the greatest he had found in Israel. Jesus responds (vs 13), "
“Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.”

Jesus modeled something powerful for us in this passage. Although things were going well for him, he knew his life wasn't meant to be lived only to bask in his pleasure. Jesus took time to reach out to those on the other side of the gate. His heart broke for the suffering but he modeled a life of tangible compassion. A compassion that was compelled to respond not just emotionally, but also actively.

We are not called only to bask in our own comfort or blessings, we are called to reach out a hand of compassion to those who are suffering. This doesn't mean we need to feel guilty for being blessed, but rather to be reminded that we are blessed to be a blessing. We have the truth inside of it to share it with the blind, the hurting and the oppressed.

I once heard that if you want to be more like Jesus, to read the gospels again and again. The more I read the gospels, the more I see Jesus stopping for those who were in need or in pain. He lived a lifestyle of active compassion.

Many times I pray that Jesus would make me more like him...perhaps he is giving me an opportunity to be more like him each time I see a passerby on the other side of the gate.

Thanks for reading,
Mel Miller