Dinner with your enemies

Luke 5:27-32 (ESV)

27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

If you decided to have dinner with a loan shark, how would your friends and family react?

In Jesus’ time, tax collectors were viewed in the same way our present-day society disdains businesses that prey on the poor. Tax collectors were Jews who were taking advantage of their own people by collecting Rome’s taxes plus a surcharge to line their own pockets (Luke 19:8). They were considered outsiders—enemies on the same level as the Romans.

Levi was a tax collector. And yet Jesus sought him with one purpose in mind: to join his table.

“Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector's booth. ‘Follow me and be my disciple,’ Jesus said to him” (Luke 5:27). Jesus wanted this man—this enemy of the people—to be saved. By accepting the invitation, Levi became one of Jesus’ disciples. You know him as Matthew, who wrote the first Gospel of the New Testament.

Before we came to Christ, each of us was an enemy of God (Rom. 5:10). But God loved us so much that He not only wanted to make us friends—He also wanted to make us family (Eph. 1:5). Look around you for those who’ve never known or have become estranged from their Creator, especially those who’ve been vilified as enemies. Look at their potential in Jesus and invite them to come home.

Do you know any “enemies” that need to hear about Jesus through you?

Ask God to give you the courage to reach out to someone that society has rejected.

Dear Lord, help us to love our enemies. Help us to reach out to someone today that needs Your love. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Can we love our enemies?

Matthew 5:44 (ESV)

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

People can be mean.  I think back to when I used to ride the bus to school every day. I remember one kid that would just pick on everyone. He was an older student and he sure was mean.  It got so bad that he even made some of the kids cry.  There are some people like this boy that are just plain mean.  So the question is with all the mean people that we meet around us, is it really possible to love those who are mean to us?

I think the answer is “yes”.  The Bible says in Matthew 5:44 – “But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you.”   How do we do that? How do we muster up love for people who are mean and don’t treat others with respect? The Bible says in Romans 5:5 that the love of God has been placed into our hearts. So yes, God tells us to love our enemies which can seem hard, but he gives us the love to do it with.

So, that bully you come across everyday, or the people in your life that seem to be too hard to love, you can love them. Why? Because you don’t have to love them with your own love. You love them with the love that God has placed into your heart. So remember that when loving mean people gets hard, you’re not doing it alone. The love of God has been placed in your heart. You’ve got all the love you need to love your enemies.

Dear Lord, thank You for placing Your love in our heart. We thank You that with that love we can love those who are mean and unlovable. We ask You to help us to love others and know that with Your help we can love my enemies. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Let's rededicate our lives to the Lord

Proverbs 16: (ESV)

When a man's ways please the Lord,

    he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

A young reporter approached an old man on his 100th birthday. "Happy birthday, kind Sir! Can I bother you to answer one question? In all your years, of what are you most proud?" he asked.

"Well," said the man, "I don't have a single enemy in the world."

"Really?!" shouted the reporter, "That's just incredible -- how inspiring to us all!"

"Yep," added the centenarian, "outlived every one of 'em."

Sadly, each of us has acquired an enemy or two in our lives. While it's our human nature to find fault in others and make an occasional unnecessary enemy, sometimes it has nothing to do with us! What can we do to make peace with enemies like those?

"He" is the operating word in the verse above. He, that is, the Lord, makes even enemies be at peace with him. All we have to worry about is making sure that our ways are pleasing to the Lord and He will do the rest!

When our path is straight, and God is the focus of our journey, then our ways will please Him and He will make even our enemies be at peace with us.

Let's rededicate our lives to the Lord again today and see Him bring the victory.

Dear Lord, we pray that as we journey along the way help us keep our eyes on You. We thank You in advanced for the victory that we can have in You. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Repay Good for Evil.

Romans 12:17-21 (New International Version)

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The story is told of a man in Massachusetts many years ago who found his neighbor’s horse in the middle of his field. He was so angry about it that he took the horse to the public pound.

Meeting the owner soon after this, he told him what he had done and added, "If I catch him there again, I will do the same thing."

The neighbor replied, "Well, the other night I looked out of my window and saw your cattle in my field. I took your cattle and drove them over to your house, and put them in the barn, and fixed the gate. If I catch them there again, I will do the same thing."

The man was reportedly so struck with his neighbor’s soft reply that he at once took the horse out of the pound and paid the charges himself.

Perhaps the most difficult commands given to us by Jesus and his apostles involve our attitude toward those who are our enemies. It is hard to restrain ourselves when we have been mistreated or when a hateful attitude has been shown toward us. The natural response is to repay evil for evil.

But we will only be able to make an impact on the world around us if, by following the example of Jesus Christ, we are willing to repay good for evil.

Dear Lord we pray today that we would not get wrapped up in the evil of the world. We pray that we would be able to show the good in our actions. In Jesus’ name, Amen.