Excluded

Psalm 41, 52; Psalm 44; Deuteronomy 8:11-20;
Hebrews 3:11-18; John 2:1-12
Matthew 25:34-35
^{Psalm 41:1} Blessed are those who have regard for the weak;
the LORD delivers them in times of trouble.

^{Matthew 25:37} “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?

Nouwen points us to the critical duty of living in God's love so that we can live with a compassionate heart. Psalm 41 points us to the reward of living with this heart. Yet, I'm struck by the unselfconscious way in which living for others is meant to be done represented by the response of the righteous when told they cared for the Lord in Matthew 25.

While care for others brings reward, as we grow in faith the care we're to give becomes care that doesn't care about the reward because it flows out of a place of overflowing love. It seems to me that most of us fall rather short of God's practice of love for others. My possibly wildly wrong theory of why we fall so short in loving others is that most feel less than fully loved, excluded, or even not lovable for a myriad of reasons. Out of our perceived lack, we are then stingy and perpetuate the lack we perceive by pushing away (excluding) those who remind us of our lack. May true love flow into us today!

And I pray today with Hebrews 3:13 God, help us encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of us may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

Choose your own question:
Carryover question from yesterday: What practices or disciplines help you remember that you are loved by God?
Thinking of Jesus: When in Jesus life might he have had to wrestle or fight to hold onto his identity as God's beloved?