Time to Love
Read John 15:12-17
No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.
-John 15:13 (NRSV)
FOR the second time in a week, I received an unusual phone call from a friend. The conversation did not make sense, and I was too busy with work to take the time to dig deeper into why my friend was calling. As I worked through the day, my mind kept coming back to the call. Then I received an email reminder from The Upper Room asking for past writers to take time to send in a meditation. All of a sudden it was clear to me: God was speaking to me, just as every morning through the meditations I read in The Upper Room to start my day. I thought, How often has some distant writer, many months ago, written something that made a profound difference in my life on the day I read it?
I realized that I might be able to make a difference for my friend. I stopped what I was doing and called him. Soon I learned that he had lost his job and felt too ashamed to ask for help.
God asks us to demonstrate Christian love by taking time in the midst of our busyness to listen and offer love to people in need. Sometimes a few minutes of prayer is all that is needed, but often it is something more. If we routinely abide in God, we will hear God's call each day and know what to do.
Mark H. Anderson (Pennsylvania, USA)
Prayer for today:
O God, help us to abide in you, listen to your call, and demonstrate your love by helping those you bring to us for care. Amen.
*www.UpperRoom.org
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