Rise and show respect

I've been without the Internet for several days so I haven't been able to post. The other day, the same day I lost my Internet connection, I wrote down eight different verses that spoke to me. I wondered if looking at the passages after several days would make me forget why I wrote them down. It is interesting that today, some of them seem more intertwined than when I wrote them down. Here are the passages I wrote down 3 days ago.

Leviticus 19:32 "Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD."
Leviticus 19:14 "Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the LORD."
Leviticus 19:16b "Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am the LORD.
James 4:14b "You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."
James 4:17 "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins."
Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
Hebrews 7:25 "Therefore he [Jesus] is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them."
Psalm 37:3 (ESV) "Trust in the LORD, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness."

Do you see any theme? Well, here's my perspective. We should trust that Jesus will intercede for us continually especially when we do good, according to God's definition of good. God's good includes showing proper respect for God when we show respect for the elderly, the blind, the deaf and when we are careful not to do anything to endanger our neighbors (remember, our neighbor is pretty much everyone - see the story of the Good Samaritan). We can trust that no matter what, "good" will be part of our experience. Not necessarily as defined by human standards of good, but good in accordance with God's glorious plan.

For example, Anne Frank's story was terrible by human standards but absolutely "good" when viewed as part of God's plan, at least in my opinion. Her circumstances made her diary a compelling read. Would her journalistic endeavors been as widely-read? I would guess not. Doesn't God's glory show through the circumstances of her story?

But I digress. God calls us to show our love, devotion, and respect for Him by doing good to those He puts in our path, including the elderly, the deaf, and the blind, all of whom are limited in their abilities to take care of themselves. We are able to use the "awful" circumstances of people with these impairments to show God our love for Him. Let me say that again. We are able to show our love for God when we show our love and care for those who cannot repay us and those who cannot (physically) give us something in return.

Additionally, when we do not show our love for God by doing this, we are sinning. James 4:17 (ESV) - So whoever KNOWS the right thing to do and FAILS to do it, for him it is sin. That is why the more we know about God, the more wretched we are. Not because we get worse, but because we KNOW more about how really bad we are.

God already knows how bad we are and loves us anyway. Re-read Hebrews 7:25 and Romans 8:28. Jesus is able to save us and "always lives to make intercession" for us. And "all things work together for Good for those who are called according to HIS purpose" (emphasis mine).

Then what do we do with James 4:14b and Psalm 37:3b? Well, we are here but a wisp of time, taking up by a wisp of space, nothing but a gnat, a speck, a nothing....except that God loves us. He loves us and calls us to "dwell in the land" and "befriend faithfulness". He takes care of us and wants us to know him - make a friend of being faithful to Him.

Make a friend of being faithful to him...through "rising in the presence of the aged", "not curs[ing] the deaf or put[ting] a stumbling block in front of the blind", or "endanger[ing] your neighbor". By doing good - God's good - and befriending faithfulness we demonstrate our respect and reverence for our God.

Because we are just a wisp, we don't have a lot of time to demonstrate our love. We don't have a lot of time to catch up for missed opportunities. We better get started and starting looking for more opportunities to make up for the ones we've missed.

Thank you Dear God for allowing us to do good to others as a way of showing that we love and respect you. Open our eyes to opportunities to do good. Shake me when I see the opportunities but don't act. Shake me hard. Startle me into action. I do love you but I often forget to show it through loving and respecting others. In Jesus' Name, who "always lives to make intercession for" me, AMEN

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