Daily devotional, August 7, 2024
The rope
"But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
Matthew 5:44
There was a time in my career that I had to buy a portion of a rope, and hang it on my cubicle as a thoughtful reminder on how to conduct myself. The rope was meant to remind me that I should remain humble, obey my semi-oppressive superior’s whims, in turn giving him enough rope to hang himself. Yes, I am not about to strangle myself, nor my ex-boss, but I wanted Him to have enough rope so that his career and reputation would take an epic nosedive because of his own doing.
Fast forward many years later, I realized I was mean. Yes, I have been humble enough to submit to all his commands, including those which are unreasonable, but in my mind, I was wishing him ill. Followers of Jesus ought not to be that way.
"Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Romans 12:17-19
If there is anything that the rope should have reminded me of, it should be that the rope is something that I could throw to this mean person so that he could get out of the darkness that he is in. I imagine him being yelly and cranky because it is like he fell into an empty and dark well. He cannot see any light anymore and cannot get out of the trap he is in, therefore, he could not do good things toward others. If I could give him a rope, at least he could climb back up into the light.
"And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will."
2 Timothy 2:24-26
I have often told my children that when someone is being mean to them, they should not take that meanness personally. They should ask themselves first if that person is mean to others too, and if the answer is yes, then that person may be going through something.
Now it doesn’t matter whether that person in our life is our boss, our family member, or our peer. What is important is, we can hurl unto them a rope of hope, that could at least improve the way they think about themselves and others. That rope is Jesus.
"Save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh."
Jude 23
So how do we practically give Jesus to that difficult person in our life? Well, we can share the gospel with them. Try to be humble and patient with them, and get a good opportunity to share the good news with them.
"How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'”
Romans 10:14-15
It is however a completely different thing when the person is someone in authority, like in my case many summers ago. Realistically, we cannot just walk in and tell our boss, or our teacher, or someone in authority, or even our parents that they need Jesus in their life without hurting their feelings. Yes, we should do that, but we have to be more creative in terms of timing and wording.
What we can do though is we can try other means to introduce them to the one true King. One of the best ways is to live a life of worship. When we let Jesus’ light shine through our lives and towards others, they, in time, will ask us how come we have inner peace. We should then clinch that moment to share the story of our Messiah, and hope that they would surrender their life to Him as well.
"But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,”
1 Peter 3:15
We can also pray for them, invite them to a bible study or church activity. We can also subtly play praise songs and let the message speak to them. There are many ways we could hurl that rope on others, but for us to have that courage to throw that rope of salvation on them, we too should share Jesus’ passion to save the lost.
Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on Luke 6:27-36 to dig deeper on today’s topic.
Reflection Question: Have you ever tried introducing Jesus to that difficult person in your life?
Conversation with the Lord: _ Heavenly Father, thank you for being the light and hope of the world. Please help me shine your light to others, so that I could be humble amidst persecution, and have the confidence to tell these people about you. I love you above all else, and I want more people to encounter you too. Amen.
