In places where it snows, many have snowblowers, not quite as efficient at getting down to the concrete of the sidewalk, but much easier on the backs of the individuals that need to get their sidewalks cleaned for the traveling public. It takes much less time to get the job done, and so sometimes these individuals will go ahead and do their next-door neighbors sidewalks as well, maybe even the one after that, but sooner or later they stop, turn around, put the machine away and go back into the warm house.
If everyone on this planet fulfilled the two great commandments of our Lord, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” (Mark 12:30) And love thy neighbor as thyself, (Gal. 5:14) there would be no war, no enmity, no strife, it would, at least in an interpersonal sense, be a paradise. Love, care, compassion, and concern would not stop two doors down, everyone on the planet would be our neighbor, but it is not so, many will not clear their own sidewalk, much less concern themselves with the one next door, and so we deny within ourselves the commandment that is set apart for the brethren, to bear their burdens with them, (Gal. 6:2) to remember those who are in prison, (Heb. 13:3) to forgive seventy times seven times. (Matt. 18:22)
What we will not do in love for our brothers and sisters in Christ we will in no way attempt or even contemplate doing for the heathen, those who are still lost, what we will not do for those we love, we will in no way do for those we do not care about.
Every day, in one way or another since we met, I try to make my lovely wife laugh, I am not always successful of course, for I am a man of deep thoughts, but I try. When I speak to those that I know are my brothers and sisters in Christ, the subject matter is of course different to a degree than when I speak to the lost, but in every conversation I try to remember, I am either speaking to my family, or I am speaking to my neighbor. They are not the same, when our Lord said that if anyone calls his brother a fool, (Matt. 5:22) He was not speaking of our neighbors, the lost, for “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.” (Psalm 14:1) Something a lot of people who call themselves Christians fail to understand, and something that our adversary has used greatly to his advantage these last few years, get the believers to believe that everyone is our brother, that my neighbor is also a child of God, even the pope has said as much. It has led to the enabled society, which has morphed into the great falling away, (2 Thess. 2:3) which will lead to the “Age of man,” run by the antichrist in the tribulation period.
I do not treat my neighbor as I do my family in Christ, and I am not expected to by the Lord, I am commanded, as you are, to forsake this world, (Luke 14:33) to be transformed by the renewing of my mind, (Romans 12:2) I am to love them, but not become one of them again. They are my enemy, (Matt. 5:44) and I am commanded to love my enemy. Hard words, I am glad that I did not have to say them, I find it quite difficult to obey them at times, especially with those I meet that mock me for my faith in Christ, for those who spit on Him by using His Holy name as a curse word, but then I remember that once I was the same, and someone took the time to tell me how much I was loved.
I can love my neighbor, because I know his end if he does not repent, but I will not be his best friend, I will befriend him, but there must come a time when I must obey another commandment, I must not cast pearls before swine. (Matt. 7:6) It’s not difficult to know how far you should use that snowblower, but it can be difficult to understand when to quit, and head back home.
2 thoughts on “When To Stop”
Well put… Prayer is the answer to loving your enemies. Hard to love the lost who are careless, but it’s easy to pray! 🙂
I am always torn between Psalm 139:21 “Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?” and the command to love my enemies, but truly, the only enemies I have are those that hate His Name. A conundrum, to say the least.
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