of us like to entertain, or at least we like to eat. Good food is conducive to good conversation. Friendships blossom, love grows, people are happy. So why do we need a proverb to remind us about this fact?
If you've ever taken part in a meal where everyone sat stone cold and was silent, where no amount of tasty gourmet delights could change the atmosphere in the room, then you understand the point here. You can eat grilled cheese with someone you love and feel like it was a gourmet treat or you can eat roast duck with someone you don't care for and hardly be able to swallow the mint sauce.
The lesson here is also a good reminder about the attitude we may have toward life. We might think we'd be happier if we had more money or a bigger house or prettier clothes. We might think love comes with more status in a job or in the community. The truth is that love doesn't care about how much money you make or how often you eat at a fancy restaurant.
Love cares about just one thing . . . your heart. If your heart is right, right with God and full of love, salad greens will be morsels from heaven because all will be right with the world.
In the Flow
Lord, I know that I aspire to having more material things and a better job, but help me be grateful for what I have and for the people who love me. Amen.
February 8
Complete in Love
If you love only those who love you, what reward do you have? Don't even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing? Don't even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore, just as your heavenly Father is complete in showing love to everyone, so also you must be complete.
—Matthew 5:46-48
Matthew reminds us that love isn't just about the people we're comfortable with, or the people who make us happy, or the people we relate to in some special way. Love is about our neighbors. It's about people we haven't met and never will. It's about doing what we can in the name of love for humankind. That's complete love, not excluding anyone simply because we don't have a personal kinship with them.
The ancient philosopher Tertullian said, "It is our care for the helpless, our practice of loving kindness, that brands us in the eyes of many of our opponents. 'Look! . . . How they love one another! Look how they are prepared to die for one another."
Love is an action word and it is our mission to become better lovers, better givers, and better caretakers of others. That is what completes us. Reach out in love today.
In the Flow
Father, I am a neophyte in the arena of love. I love those who are near me, but I often neglect to seek out and embrace those outside my personal circle of friends. Help me be willing to love one more person today. Amen.
February 9
Won't You Be My Neighbor?
The commandments . . . are all summed up in one word: You must love your neighbor as yourself. Love doesn't do anything wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is what fulfills the Law.
—Romans 13:9-10
If you grew up in a neighborhood, or you watched Mr. Rogers as a kid, you might think that neighbors are those people who live on your block. They're the people who watch out for your house when you're out of town and the ones who stop by with a gift on your birthday. They know you and love you.
But, these are not your only neighbors. You have neighbors at work, people who have an office next to yours. Your newspaper carrier and your hair dresser are also your neighbors and so is the guy three states over who isn't on your Christmas card list.
Today's a good day to expand your definition of a neighbor. Touch the life of someone you meet at the local coffee shop or someone who sits by you on the subway. Take some groceries to a shut-in. Your neighbors are everywhere, and they're only a thought away.
When Jesus summed up the Ten Commandments with just two, he was talking about love. Love your neighbor as yourself and show God you know what it means to be neighborly.
In the Flow
Lord, I am a good neighbor sometimes. I try to watch out for those around me but I confess that I don't often think about the people I pass by on the street. Help me see them too. Help me reach out in love wherever you lead me. Amen.
February 10
Another To-Do List
People plan their path, but the LORD secures their steps.
—Proverbs 16:9
Are you a list maker? You know, you write out the things you'll do tomorrow, jotting notes to yourself about what you hope to achieve. You may not get all of it done, but at least it's on a list. Then you walk out the door and you forget to take the list. You strive to remember each thing you had so carefully noted, but somehow still arrive back home with the most important one of all left undone.
Setting goals and making plans are both good things. In fact, it's wise indeed to make plans for the things you anticipate. The Proverb here, though, reminds us of one important fact. Planning provides an invitation to pray. Only God can secure the way for you and create the opportunities that will bring the desired result.
What if you start your to-do list like this: Things I have to do tomorrow. No. 1: Pray. No. 2: Thank God for today because he created it for me. No. 3: Get some guidance about the things on my to-do list.
It's a new day and a new opportunity to makes some plans. Include your heavenly Father in your to-do list and it won't matter if you leave the house without your list. He knows what you need to get done.
In the Flow
Lord, you know that I have a lot of things to accomplish today. I know that I can't do one of them without you. Please be with me today and help me get all my tasks done. Amen.
February 11
Love Notes
If I speak in tongues of human beings and of angels but I don't have love, I'm a clanging gong or a clashing cymbal.
—1 Corinthians 13:1
Remember that crafty woman Delilah? She tried over and over again to sweet-talk Samson into telling her the secret of his strength. He finally succumbed to her wiles and ended up losing every ounce of strength he had, along with his hair. Delilah may have had the voice of an angel, but she didn't have love.
Adolph Hitler had a powerful voice too. He convinced millions of people that he wanted only their good and then turned the tables on them, showing his true face as one of the most evil men in history.
When we listen to
