The Light Of Compassion

The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” Mark 12:31 NLT

The good news of the gospel is that Jesus came to give us the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.  Through Christ we not only have the passport to heaven but we can live in the presence of God in the here and now through the power of the Holy Spirit. But first we need to be convicted by the horror of sin and understand the judgment of God on evil. There is a spiritual battle that keeps us from the abundant life that Christ died to give us. The parable of the weeds and the wheat is to show us that there will be no sin or evil in the Kingdom of Heaven:

“The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.  And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!” Matthew 13:41-‬43 NLT

To live in the kingdom of heaven in the here and now, we need more than a passport to heaven – we need the gift of the Holy Spirit. Reading the bible with restless minds and guilty hearts keeps us from hearing our Shepherd’s call to listen and understand His promise that the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. In a world darkened by COVID-19, natural disasters, political conflicts and personal struggles, we need to be the light of Christ:

“For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” 2 Corinthians 4:6-‬7 NLT

The light shining in our hearts comes from the fire of God’s love burning up the sin and evil in our hearts. The hallmark of the Kingdom of Heaven is the love of God revealed in the cross of Christ.  It is not how successful we are in living the Christian life but how faithful we are following Christ in loving others and be a light of compassion in the world.

God’s commandments of love are not rules to be obeyed but recipes for the abundant life in the Kingdom of Heaven. We are to  feed on God’s Word so that our acts of love and deeds of faith will become a habit. Compassion flows from the obedience of a childlike faith in the agape love of God and not the obedience of a childish faith rooted in fear of God’s judgment. Our roots of faith grows deeper as we trust the Holy Spirit to remove the weeds of sin, fear and guilt from our hearts so that the seed of God’s love will fulfill God’s purposes for His glory:

“Speak O God, as we come to You

To receive the food of Your Holy Word

Take Your Truth plant it deep in us

Shape and fashion us in Your likeness

Then the Light of Christ will be seen today

In our acts of love and deeds of faith

Speak O God and fulfill in us

All Your purposes for Your glory.”

SDG