Do This and You will Live

Let justice rollLiving in the Spirit
July 9, 2016

Scripture Reading: Luke 10:25-37

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus.* ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ He answered, ‘You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’
–Luke 10:25-28

If you read these daily devotions regularly, I am sure you have discerned that there are primarily three scriptures that inform the bases of my faith:

  • Micah 6:8b, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
  • Psalm 51:10-12, Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.*
  • Any form of Love God and love your neighbor as yourself, including our scripture today.

This week in the USA we have once again experienced two questionable police shootings of black men and the killing of five police officers with the wounding of seven others who were providing protection for peaceful protesters to vent their frustration resulting from the earlier police shootings. Throughout the year, we have had irresponsible people and media exploiting our fears of the other to their financial or political benefit fueling the flames of divisiveness. Why are any of us surprised that innocent lives are being lost in the name of greed and power?

We are each responsible for our own behavior. We are each responsible for the well-being of all. Words matter. Actions matter. Love works when it is applied.

Prayer: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit*. Make us whole, make us one, and let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream (Amos 5:24). Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.