The reading for today is a continuation of the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5. It is the last part of the Beatitudes and contains these words of Jesus as translated in The Message:
"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven."
The last part of this passage talks about others that come into our lives, and two of the possible reasons that God puts them there. They could be there so that they could bring a word of God to us, to bless or instruct us, or they might be there so that our light could shine in their lives.
Either way, those individuals, whose lives intersect with ours at a given time, are not just intruders on our time and activities. No, they are there because God willed them there. I might be tempted to dismiss them as external to the purposes of God, but they are not. I may treat them as an interruption and fail to see the hand of God in their coming, but perhaps I had better look again.
Andy Andrews has written a book entitled The Noticer. The main character, a man named simply Jones, is asked by another how he can know all he does about the people he talks with. His answer is that he just pays attention to what they say and do. In short, he notices them. They are not just fleeting shadows, flitting through his life, they are real people, people with needs, desires, and potential. They are people that he can help.
God, please help me to notice others that pass through my life today. They may enter for just a few seconds or longer, but You care about them. Help me to care also.
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