but do you like your neighbor?

Genesis 24: 59-60
59So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men. 60And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, "Our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands,and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him!"


All of Rebekah’s friend wish her well; they even send her off with a blessing. A good blessing at that! Did you notice anything that is missing? There is no negativity, there is no one standing around talking about how far away she will be, or how long the trip will be, or what this fella Abraham has or does not have. They wish her well.


As I read this chapter this morning, it got me to thinking about all of the times that I have moved or had an opportunity, and how I was treated, or the times that a friend of mine has moved and some of the thoughts I have had. If you think about it, it does not take long to remember the people who came up with all of the reasons to stay. The long list of all of the negatives that make the opportunity look less than it is.

I believe this passage shows us how we should be treating those around us. Instead of looking at all the negative, why can’t we just be happy for people anymore? In Matthew 25 we hear the Lord’s thoughts on how we treat others, and how it affects him. 40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Does this thought no transfer to our words? If it does then when we visit negative thoughts and wishes on our brethren, then aren’t we in fact wishing them upon God himself? I don’t know about you, but I do not find myself wishing God ill will, I would be quite offended if I heard someone else doing it, so it only stands to reason that for us to be the good Christians that we want to be, we should not encourage or perpetuate that type of behavior to anyone.

Yes, I know exactly how hard it can be to be happy for people, especially when some of the people in question have wronged you in the past, and I am not saying that it is not something that I struggle with, because I do. What we have to do is recognize the shortcoming, and work on it. That means we will have to look for the positive, not the negative. We will have to encourage others, even when it might be something that we wanted to do for ourselves. We will have to be positive, not jealous….and if we are honest with ourselves we will see that a lot of times those ill feelings are nothing more than “sour grapes” We start spending our energy looking for reasons why the event would not be as good as it looks. We think of all the potential pitfalls to make ourselves better. So when we fall into that trap of negativity, we are not just hurting our neighbor, and God, but ourselves as well.

Why rob anyone of happiness, including you? Look for the positive; focus on God, and all he has blessed you with. You might not think it is much, but I promise you there is someone out there with less than you, and they would be happy to trade places! When we start expending our energy on positive things like helping and encouraging, not only will we feel better, but also we will start to get a clearer picture of the path the Lord has already cleared for us!


Peace,
Rev. T