FOLLOWING a woman out of the
shopping mall and entering a pedestrian crossing behind her I hear her say,
“thanks for stopping, buddy!” A person had just passed over the crossing and
should have stopped, but didn’t.
Suddenly God shows me a vision of
when I was that driver, when, through a moment of inattention, I failed to stop
when I should have — nothing hazardous, sure, but anything other than polite
and respectful. Times when I have been in a hurry.
In that moment, God showed me who I
am, who she is, and who that anonymous driver is — sinners who judge others for
the very things we ourselves do!
We, in our humanity, are destined
for conflict, because we demand rights for ourselves that we’re not willing to
give all the time to others. Sheer madness. Do
for me that which I reserve the right not to do for you. No wonder
the world is in such disarray.
I thanked God for the instantaneousness
of the revelation He gave me, so I was prevented from leering at this other
guy. Whether the faux pas was intentional or not, the failure to stop for a
pedestrian was simply a reminder of what we’re all capable of; and what so many
of us have either done or will do in future. How could I judge him?
This situation reminded me of how
important following God is. We’re ruined without His standard to strive for.
Even as followers we so frequently get it wrong. Especially as His followers we’re
enabled to see our folly and, hopefully, repent of it.
In a world of ‘Do for me that which
I reserve the right not to do for you’, we have the choice to do for
others as we would wish them to do for us, without requiring them to return the favour.
The best gift God gives, anytime,
is His revelation of the truth of who we
are; sinners in need of the moment’s saving. We need His revelation if our
relationships are to work.
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