Plenty of space on this beach. Bertra, Co. Mayo
But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.
Matthew 5:44-45 NLT
Nothing perhaps illustrates the difference between the perception of God and humanity than sunshine. Here we discover that God shines upon both the just and the unjust. The brilliance of a sunny day is that everyone benefits, regardless of the circumstances of their lives; the good and the bad, whether self-induced or not.
This is because God so clearly differentiates the sinner from the sin. One who kills is not a murderer, as if this is their identity. They remain a sinful person sought by God, just as the thieves crucified alongside Jesus discovered. Both initially joined with the crowd below in abusing Jesus.
Then one made a request for salvation. Jesus heard and accepted him even though he had no time to make amends for his criminal life. On a day when darkness covered the earth, sunshine broke through and bathed a scene of horror with the warmth of its penetrating rays.
I am invited to live within God’s kingdom; God is not merely a welcome guest I gladly entertain within the kingdom of my human heart. The ways of God are beyond my comprehension. I am to celebrate the grace of God and journey with prayerful compassion for all my fellow men and women. I am to entrust my questions, my complaints and my judgement to God who alone knows everything and remains the only one competent to judge.
Invest your energy in celebrating God’s grace, extended to you and covering a multitude of sins, while praying for God’s mercy to be extended to all. Behind the deepest cloud cover the sun continues to shine. I know that those rays can and will penetrate and remind me of God’s patient, enduring presence.
QUESTION
Why are we so quick to judge others?
PRAYER
Thank you, Lord, that you do extend your mercy to everyone.
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