Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.
Luke 10:27
I’ve thought a lot about the first part of that verse – and I’ve been asking God for a heart that loves Him more and more. I do want to be completely committed to Him, and I ask each day for Him to show me His will. But recently, God highlighted the last part of the verse in my mind: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” I’m ashamed to admit that I don’t even know the neighbors on my own street! We know some of their names, we’ve had brief contact with a few of them, but I don’t really know them. We live on a street with only 6 houses surrounded by wheat fields and forests. It isn’t like a city street where the houses are close together and you might make contact with neighbors by just walking out your front door. But that’s no excuse for me!
One of my first thoughts was, “I don’t even know some of their names. It would be strange to just walk up to their doors and introduce myself after all these years!” But it became clear that God was asking me to do something. I got the idea to invite the women of the neighborhood to my home just to get to know them. But where to start? I had the phone numbers of two of them, so I called them first. They gladly welcomed the idea of getting to know the rest of the women! One by one I was able to get the other phone numbers and invite them. The man across the street came over to ask us about the new paving on our driveway. We never see them at all, and I didn’t know anything about him. I told him my idea and asked if there were any women in his house that I could invite. He gave me his wife’s number. She’s delighted to come!
I’m amazed at how quickly it all came together once I took the first step. In just a couple of days I had called them all and discovered a time in a late afternoon when they would all be available! And they are all really looking forward to it. I’m writing this message on a Thursday morning, and they’re coming this afternoon! I’ll write after our gathering and tell you how it went! Several of my friends are praying for this time.
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Okay, it’s Friday, and the ladies came yesterday at 4:00. We had such fun getting to know each other! They were here till 7:00! I used some get-to-know-you questions that I’ve used with ladies from church when we meet for Newcomers Welcome – How long have you been in Spokane? Tell us about your family. Are you working/retired? What kind of work did you do? What are some of the activities or hobbies that make you happy? Anything else you’d like us to know about you? I had asked each of them to bring something that represents that activity or hobby. It’s always fun to see what people bring! It’s amazing the conversations that come from answering these questions. And it guides the conversation so we really do get to know each other a little better. Now we’ve exchanged phone numbers and email addresses will be able to contact each other.
The ladies told me how much they enjoyed meeting each other. And they expressed interest in getting together again. One of them told me she’d be interested in visiting my church! I offered each of them a copy of the devotional book I published this year on Amazon: “Living in God’s Extravagant Grace; Encouragement from God’s Word.” They all wanted a copy and asked me to sign it. They are not all church attenders. But maybe this will be the first step in some of them coming to know Jesus! I’m excited to see how God will lead next!
I’ve learned a few important lessons by taking this step to get to know my neighbors:
- When God clearly puts something on my heart, do it!
- Even if it feels uncomfortable at first, do it anyway!
- Trust that it is His plan, and He will give me one step at a time to accomplish it.
- It’s never too late to get started on what He’s asking me to do, even if I’m reluctant.
- He abundantly blesses what I’ve done in obedience, more than I imagine!
(6) When I love others, I’m expressing love to God.
For the next devotional message, I want to write about “Who Is My Neighbor?”
PERSONAL REFLECTION
Is God prompting you to take specific steps to do something?
How will you respond?
Be encouraged that He will provide everything you need to follow what He is asking you to do.
This is delightful, and so encouraging!
This is so encouraging! Thank you for being a good example.