Bible
Study: Hebrews 3, 7 to 14 and Mark 1, 40 to 45.
To be born
again and merciless at the same time is a contradiction. You cannot have such a
hardened heart or what we may describe as a cold heart and still claim to be a
Christian. A person who does not care about others and lives as if no one in
this whole world matters cannot claim to be a Christian. The defining
characteristic of a Christian, a person who is really born again is love. This
love is first concretized in the care we show towards others; even those who
have made themselves our enemies.
To care
for others regardless of their identity (friend or foe), is the hallmark of
being born again; the hallmark of being a child of God who still cared for
sinful humanity that had made itself an enemy of God. We were all enemies of
God and he could have decided to harden his heart towards us and wish us the
worst. In Romans 5:8-10, we read: But God proves his love for us in that while
we still were sinners Christ died for us… For if while we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been
reconciled, will we be saved by his life.”
Jesus came
to teach the world a lesson. And this lesson is one that the world even after
two thousand years is yet to learn. What is this lesson? Luke 6:27-35 says: “Love
your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray
for those who abuse you. … But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting
nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the
Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.”
Can we say
this to persons who lost family members in the recent Southern Kaduna killings?
No matter how painful the crime of those killers may be, if all we wish for
them is death, then it means we are not born again Christians. Mercy is being
able to look at an evil person in the eye and feel sorry for Satan’s hold on
him or her rather than seek out ways of retaliation. To be merciful is to have
a heart that is concerned about the salvation of the sinner rather than their
outright destruction.
To be
merciful is to have a heart that can pity for others, a heart that feels the
pain of others, a heart that wants to see them well again, strong, healthy and
back to the light. In Mark 1:40 to 45, we come across the merciful heart of
Jesus when a leper came to him begging for healing on his knees. Mark uses the
words: “Moved with Pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him…” This
phrase “moved with pity” perfectly describes the attitude or the mind-set of
God towards us and it shows us a perfect mirror of how our hearts ought to be
towards others.
The opposite
of being moved with pity is what the letter to the Hebrews describes as a
hardened heart. “Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…Take
care, brethren lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart…exhort
one another everyday as long as it is called ‘today’ that none of you may be
hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:8-13.
If truly
you really don’t give a damn about others at all, if you do not wish people
well regardless of who they are or what they have done to you, if you are
praying for something bad to happen to others or waiting to hear bad news from
people and if you are the type that finds it difficult to rejoice when you hear
of people making significant progress in life, people achieving big things or getting
healed of sicknesses, then I urge you today to repent! Repent, get born again
and drop that cold heart inside you.
Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, break whatever hardness is left of my heart. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith.
It is well with you. God bless you.
Fr. Abu.
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