Verse of the Day 10-27

Hey guys.....its Bob.

I heard there were only a couple of ya at youth last night, but i heard it was excellent. Thanks so much to Mike and Jennifer for coming to help out. I know Luke really appreciated it, and we'd love to have you guys back anytime!

Anyway, im about to dive into the word.....wanna come?

Matthew 25:37-39
"Then these righteous ones will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will tell them, 'I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'"

To me, this sounds like a call to social justice! "Oh no!! First Bob is trying to get us to ask all our friends to youth, now he wants us to write a letter to our congressman about better care for homeless people!!!" Well guys, i'm not gonna lie......that would be AWESOME! But social justice can mean so much more. In this passage, Jesus is talking about some of the poorest of the poor, but in saying this he is also talking about our treatment of all people. Just stop and think for a second how many people we look at, pass by or talk to each day and treat like they are the least of our brothers and sisters......................................................................................................ok, thats enough thinking, i've thought of too many already.

I know that we all have people in our life that we treat like our dirty laundry piles. We wear them for a while, but when they get all sweaty and dirty we throw them in a pile in the corner of our room. We neglect them for days on end and watch them as they get smelly and moldy in our sight. We only look to that pile when we've totally run out of clean clothes, but when we stick them back on, we are uncomfortable, because we've let the clothes sit for so long and can't stand the smell. (OK, maybe its only me that wears dirty clothes from time to time...ignore that metaphor!). But ultimately, we can change the way we approach these people in our lives. Christ is calling us to take out our dirty laundry and wash up the way we interact with others; approaching them with love, kindness and compassion. This is a call to social justice!

This doesn't mean you have to treat everyone like your best friend.....but giving everyone a smile wouldn't hurt. Not being afraid to sit with a stranger at lunch would be awesome. You guys should come hang with me at the geek table sometime.....you'll find some real interesting folk. Basically, if we can work on acting Christ-like to those we interact with daily, we are not only living out his mission but are serving a higher call to social justice. And i know all of you guys are already awesome in that aspect, but i know that we all still have a dirty laundry pile that needs cleaning.

Ooooh, that was a refreshing dip! Thanks for jumping in with me guys. I love all of ya, and i hope God is blessing ya with an awesome day!

Galatians 5:25
If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.