Suggested Reading: Psalm 145
My
family and I enjoy the movie Evan Almighty. It is a wonderful retelling of the
story of Noah, set in modern times. One of the key themes of the film is that
the world is changed by one act of random kindness at a time.
You
don’t hear a lot about kindness these days. It rarely makes the news. But
kindness is one of the most powerful things in the world. Kindness changes the
world because it changes our hearts and our lives. It is God’s kindness that
leads us to repentance, and repentance is a change of heart. When hearts
change, people change, when people change cultures change, when cultures change
the world changes.
God
is kind. There is a special word in Hebrew that expresses God’s unconditional
loving kindness: Hesed. This one term summarizes the tender heart of God toward
all that He has made. God is not just loving and kind toward those who love
Him. He is loving and kind toward all! I’m so glad, because none of us would
have come to Him in the first place had He not been patient and kind in
providing for us and drawing us to Himself while we were still resisting Him.
The
birth of Christ was a special kindness, a gift to a world which was not
expecting it. God did all the work, all the sacrifice, all the reconciling
while the world just went about its business.
There
is meekness and a willingness to go unrecognized that accompanies true
kindness. It’s not keeping score and making sure that people are grateful; it
flows from a generosity of heart that wants to bless others. God sent His Son
into the world, knowing that the world would not welcome Him, would mock and
reject Him, and would eventually kill Him. But God gave us His most precious
Son anyway.
God’s
kindness came to us at Christmas, and now we can give that gift to others. His
kindness expressed through His people is still leading people to repentance
today.
........
Questions:
How
has God’s kindness changed you? Your heart?
To
whom can you show kindness today?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment