What if everyone lived to serve his neighbor?
It seems so simple and yet they continue to ask John one by one…”What about me? What should I be doing different? Can the golden rule be applied to everyone’s life? The simplistic idea of “love thy neighbor as thyself” appeared to be a new revelation.
John the Baptist was essentially explaining a rule which can be found in Mark 12:31, “And the second is like, namely this, Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” It seemed easy enough, and yet if it were followed, these people would stand out as followers of the coming Messiah.
Let’s take a look and see how we compare to some of these simple practices:
- If you have extra clothes or food, give them to someone who needs it. How are we at giving our time, abilities, or even money or possessions to others?
- Don’t touch dishonest dollars. God will provide our needs and so we have no right to be selfish and take what shouldn’t be ours.
- “Be content with your wages” John was essentially saying, “don’t justify stealing.” How often do we justify our sins? I have a right to be upset with that person after the way they treated me. Do we really?
This is by no means an exhaustive list of how to treat others. One of the best ways to serve God is to serve others. Once we put aside selfishness and pride, we can pick up an attitude of humility and service in order to live our lives completely devoted to Christ.
John was baptizing the people to show their commitment to Christ in a onetime event. But our lives are a life-long event where people are watching how we live. Are you living it for self or for God and others?
><> Josh
4 comments:
It is interesting that the principles given by John can be applied as well today as it was in the 1 century. People did not change, they are still greedy and prideful. We can see this very well in the materialistic world we are living in. Only the change of heart done by by God can change our attitude and see what is really important in life.
It's humbling to be reminded that I need to focus on the needs of others even when I am going through so many personal things. Those times are the hardest to focus on others.
As I recently went through ALL of my belongings, I was reminded of how much God has provided in my life. He has eliminated that sense of worry or concern and I am very grateful for that. Being able to trust that God will provide helps me focus on the needs of people around me instead of being selfish and focusing on my needs.
~Shannon~
I was also struck by this passage and what the Life Application commentary points out on page 68 when it finished the question "What must we do" in order to bear fruit? These were not pagans coming out to John but Jews seeking how to live.
How many times have I asked "what shall I do...?" Do I really want to hear the answer? I am just one small person, with small resources and not much money, but God is in the business of making MUCH from not much! Little is much when God is in it! No excuses
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