I seem to believe that not everyone is a child of God.
Not everyone is precious in God's eyes, not everyone should be saved, not everyone should receive His forgiveness and love.
Matthew 25:41-45
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
I tend to forget that right after Jesus praises those for offering their food, drink, and hospitality, He condemns those who have been so stingy to not offer their time and resources to others. And for those who are hungry, physically or spiritually, I often callously throw them aside. Though they may not be actively seeking God, I have to take them into account.
Everyone I interact with, everyone I see, and even those who I don't... they all are meant to praise God for everything He's done for us.
...and that's where I stopped in mid-February... with a cliché ending and no definite decision. Lately I've been thinking about why I no longer feel like reaching out to people. Frankly, I just feel tired of it all. It wasn't until I read Dillon's blog (his post on July 25th, 2009, http://longlined.blogspot.com/2009/07/what-uppp.html which happens to be Dennis' birthday and one day before my own... xD) that I realized what I was missing: love. Of course, that might seem obvious, especially since I remember asking myself why I couldn't love people anymore.
But this love cannot come from myself. It only takes a few weeks for me to be fed up with people and tired of talking to them.
No, only Spirit-driven love can produce the kind of lasting fruits that satisfy.
Lord, please give me your passion to reach out and love others... no matter what I feel at the time.
