Keep The Light On

SCRIPTURE:

OBSERVATION:

The natural tendency when someone we dislike falls is to celebrate. The world teaches us to win, to get even and to get revenge. Very rarely will we hear advice to do the opposite. Yet, we see that our very prideful nature to cheer when someone loses could very well move God in their favor.

APPLICATION:

There will always be people in our lives that will do things that make little sense to us. It may be in the things they say, the way they decide to live or even in the things that they do to us. It’s not our job to judge and absolutely not our job to celebrate when they fall.

I didn’t quite understand this as a younger believer. Very early on I remember a brother in Christ who just seemed to aggravate people. The saying goes that you should light up a room when you walk in, not when you walk out. He fell in the category of the latter.

One day I was meeting with some brothers for devotions when his name came up and some of the latest trouble he had gotten himself into. While I was just about to say he got what he deserved, an older brother in Christ interrupted me. I’ll never forget what he said – “We just have to keep praying for him and keep the light on when he’s ready to come back home.”

Wait, we weren’t going to pridefully celebrate that the instigator was getting his due? No. In humility we were going to pray for him and keep the light on, living out what we later read in Romans:

“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” – Romans 14:19

PRAYER:

Father Almighty. Forgive me Lord for times when I have been happy when someone I disliked fell. Forgive me Lord for celebrating. Thank You Lord that You remind me of the areas of my life where my pride can still get the better of me. May I pray for my enemies, that they would repent and return to You, this I pray, in Jesus’ name, Amen.