How are you? How is your week going? Have you murdered anyone this week?
I remember this so clearly. When I was much younger, I had an argument with my non-Christian friend with whether or not he would go to heaven. He thought he would go to heaven. I told him he would not, since he did not believe in Jesus.
His response to me was a response that so many people give: “I’m a good person. I’m not that bad. I’ve never murdered anyone before…”
He used the fact that he wasn’t a murderer as a stamp of his righteousness. However, when we take a look at this commandment, we see that we all have broken this commandment.
Jesus clarified this commandment further in the Sermon on the Mount when He said that we are murderers if we have murdered people in our hearts. Essentially, He was saying that we are murderers if we have hated people in our lives.
Not only that, we have broken this commandment by not obeying the positive part of this commandment. We are called to be sources of life for others, and we are called to love. However, we have not done so.
But thanks be to God that the story does not end there. Where we have failed, Jesus has obeyed. He did not come to take life, but He came to give life. He became the Bread of Life and the Living Water for the world.
This happened through the cross. He gave life by laying down His life. He became the Bread of Life that was broken on the cross for us. He became the Living Water that was poured out on the cross for us.
Because of Christ, we are able to give life by laying our lives down. We are able to love and not hate. We are able to do this, because He first did it for us. He loved us. He died for us. He saved us.
New Life, take a moment this week and reflect on this commandment. Reflect on all the ways that you have fallen short of this commandment. And then reflect on all the ways Christ has fulfilled this commandment for you in love.
Just a couple reminders for this weekend:
- If you serve our EM in some way, please come out to the church-wide Servant Dinner and Orientation this Saturday @6pm.
- If you’re a member, please come out to the Church Congregational meeting @11:40am. We will be approving the budget at that time.
- Prepare your hearts this week as we will be partaking of the Lord’s Supper this Sunday.
- If you’re a member (or a visitor that’s interested), please come out to our EM Members’ meeting after fellowship this Sunday @2:30pm.
See you all soon! May His grace and peace be with you, and pray for one another.
In Christ,
Pastor Tim
Photo Credit: https://www.becomingminimalist.com/5-years-of-better/