Psalm 51:1-2
O loving and kind God, have mercy. Have mercy upon me and take away the awful stain of my transgressions. Oh, wash me, cleanse me from my guilt. Let me be pure again. Psalm 51:1-2 (TLB)
This was written after Nathan the prophet had come to inform David of God’s judgment against him because of his adultery with Bath-sheba, and his murder of Uriah, her husband.
It has always been interesting to me the history of many of the great names in the Bible. David may be the leader of the pack for wrong doings. Moses was a murderer, and then there is Peter the ROCK who among many other things three times denied he even knew Christ. And let’s not forget about Saul who set out killing Christians and became a great Christian and writer of the New Testament.
Throughout my life I have believed God is sending us a number of messages through these people. It seems that no matter what we have done and no matter how bad it was God will welcome us with open arms and help us to be leaders in the world and leaders in his church.
I wonder how welcome David, Moses, Peter or Saul would be in many of our churches today during the times in their lives when they were needing guidance. Maybe it would be good for us to remember these great names when we are deciding those who have sinned too badly to be able to attend our church.
Maybe we should focus more on SHOWING LOVE TOWARD OUR NEIGHBOR and less on who has behaved well enough to attend our church.
Questions for Reflection:
- What does loving our neighbor mean to you?
- How far should that love go?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, Please help us to understand the meaning of “love your neighbor”. As you well know we do struggle with that one. Please help us to remember who our neighbor is and what loving our neighbor means. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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