To you who are willing to listen
To you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. — Luke 6:27 (NLT)
We should just do our thing, keep the path we are on, wear the binders, and stay in our groove. But Jesus catches us.
We do listen to our heartstrings as they pull. In listening, we hear Jesus telling us to do all sorts of Jesus-like things, like letting that guy go ahead of us in line, giving that extra dollar to the charity, dignifying the broken one as we meet their gaze, appreciating that view for a moment not a second, hugging ourselves—literally—when everything inside hurts, and nodding to the parent who is actually parenting with love in a difficult moment.
That Jesus. He is always making us do things.
Well, now, wait. Maybe that isn’t true. This Son of God isn’t actually making us do things. We certainly have the option not to listen. We can ignore His nudge, His whisper, and His quiet direction.
But He catches us. He says, “To you who are willing to listen…” Yeah. Perfectly imperfect, that is us. Willing to listen, look, and love.
There is more. When Jesus knows He has us, He lobs this outlandish humdinger: “Love your enemies!” [We notice this does not end in a period but an exclamation point!]
Love our enemies? And what? Do good things to those who hate us? Seriously?
Seriously.
If we are willing to listen, then we can take this love thing seriously.
Let’s do this. Not tomorrow. Not after lunch. Now. Before you leave this prep, you know you can love an enemy and do good to someone who hates you.
How? How do you do this? Be willing to listen.
PRAYER: I can get quiet here, Lord. When I do, give me the name of someone who is an enemy, or someone who hates me. Sit with me as I pray because I certainly need You through this. [Insert your prayer here.] Amen.
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