Because He Loves Us
“And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement
east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished
in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. And God
said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well
to be angry, even unto death. Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the
gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came
up in a night, and perished in a night: And should not I spare Nineveh, that
great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern
between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?” (Jonah
4:8-11 KJV)
I believe when God made this statement to Jonah that He said it with great
sadness in His heart “And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein
are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right
hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?” Jonah was angry because of the
gourd and never once thought about the people. I think that the same thing is
true with us today.
I have read in the paper where people got so angry over a building project that
was going to be delayed that they threatened to sue. There are times when we are
more interested in building huge buildings and creating parks that cost a lost
of money and other expensive buildings that have no eternal value and that one
day will crumble than we are in spreading the good news of a risen Saviour. If
we will listen with our hearts, we will hear God saying to us “Is constructing
buildings and objects more important to you than people are?”
We are guilty at times of spending thousands and even millions of dollars on
building projects while we ignore the people who are sleeping in the streets and
the children who do not have enough food to eat or clothes to wear. These huge
buildings and beautiful parks will someday be gone. However, the unconditional
love and compassion of Jesus that we extend to these precious children and to
the ones who are sleeping on the streets when we feed and clothe them will not
only comfort them, encourage them and warm their hearts and bodies but the
memories of our kindness, compassion and love to them will last forever in their
hearts.
A lot of churches have ministries for the homeless. Many years ago, I personally
knew someone who was sleeping on the streets. This person went to a church and
asked for food and clothing. This person was told “If you come to church on
Sunday, we will see about feeding you and clothing you.” May God have mercy on
that person and on us if we have ever said this! Thank God that not all churches
have this policy.
Most churches understand that if we are going to reach the homeless for Jesus,
we must first feed and clothe them. Also, if the church has the facilities to do
so, we should allow them to take a shower. I guarantee you that if the person
stinks, he or she is not going to want to go to church.
We read in the Bible “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily
food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled;
notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body;
what doth it profit”(James 2: 14, 15)?
It is time that we get back to loving people as we have been commanded to do. It
is urgent and extremely important that we start loving people to Jesus. The only
way we will be able to love people to Jesus is by our actions. We can tell them
Jesus loves them but we must prove it by our actions, our kindness and the
compassion that we extend to them.
One day, every one of us will stand before a Holy God and give an account of the
way we served Jesus and the way we treated others. What will He say to you? Will
He look at you with a smile on His face and say “Well done, thou good and
faithful servant?” or will He look at you with a look of hurt and tears in His
eyes? Will you be able to look Him in the eyes or will you have to hang your
head in shame because you didn’t tell others about the unconditional love of
Jesus?
Jesus proved His love for us when He died on the cruel cross of Calvary. He
allowed them to torture Him, abuse Him, mutilate Him and beat Him beyond
recognition because He loves us. Do we love Him? If so, what are we doing to
prove to Him that we love Him?
Joanne Lowe
September 28, 2008
joannelowe8@cox.net
http://joannelowe.synthasite.com