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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion February 14, 2007 NEIGHBORS |
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Frontline Devotion for Wednesday, February 14, 2007 by Penny Risen
Luke 10:27 ”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.' “ NIV
We don’t usually associate the Super Bowl with acts of charity and love. Doritos, cold beverages, wacky commercials and cheering on our favorite team --- yes! But finding ways to love our neighbor --- no, not usually. Yet the NFL has found a way to extend that passion for football into a passion for charity the very minute the Super Bowl ends each year
We don’t usually associate the Super Bowl with acts of charity and love. Doritos, cold beverages, wacky commercials and cheering on our favorite team --- yes! But finding ways to love our neighbor --- no, not usually. Yet the NFL has found a way to extend that passion for football into a passion for charity the very minute the Super Bowl ends each year
We don’t usually associate the Super Bowl with acts of charity and love. Doritos, cold beverages, wacky commercials and cheering on our favorite team --- yes! But finding ways to love our neighbor --- no, not usually. Yet the NFL has found a way to extend that passion for football into a passion for charity the very minute the Super Bowl ends each year “Where these items go, the people don’t have electricity or running water,” World Vision’s PR official Jeff Fields told the Times. “They wouldn’t know who won the Super Bowl. They wouldn’t even know about football.” And yet the people helped by this NFL-supported charity in Niger, Uganda or Sierra Leone become winners. The National Basketball Association also donates runners-up clothing to overseas charities. But in fear of Ebay auctions and embarrassing TV or Internet images of “loser” shirts, Major League Baseball destroys its extra World Series’ $20 shirts and $30 hats. Members of the Chicago Bears team surely were smarting after Super Bowl XLI, but it would be nice to think they acknowledged that their loss somehow helped strangers half a world away.
Jesus’ reminder in Luke’s Gospel to love your neighbor as well as you do yourself precedes His parable of the Good Samaritan. These two men on the road to Jericho not only are strangers, but they also come from very different backgrounds. Going out of his way to help another person didn’t seem so foreign for the kind Samaritan. Both he and the beaten man who he aided win in Jesus’ story. God’s love triumphs despite pride, fear, prejudice and selfishness.
On this day that celebrates romantic love, spread a little spiritual love and remember your neighbors as well as those close to you. It could start with a simple caring and giving act to carry out God’s command. Show that you love your neighbor. It can make a difference, maybe even more than Valentine’s Day chocolates or flowers ever would.
Prayer for the Day: Dear Lord, thank you for Your love for me and my family. Remind me to spread that caring spirit, even to those who I don’t know well. Help me to remember that Earth’s abundance belongs to everyone, near and far. Amen.
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All are welcome to join and share in our Devotional Ministry on the "Frontlines" of the world. Frontline Devotions are sent via email daily. Sign up by clicking on the box to the left. Pastor Dave welcomes feedback. Contact him at pastordave@goodshepherdonline.org. |
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