The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
….slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. Psalm 103:8 NLT

Acts 16:16-23(<<click here to read the passage)
Regularly being on the road, societal problems are often exemplified. Many people are only concerned about themselves and don’t really contemplate the repercussions of their actions. Here are two examples:
#1 – Coming home recently, I had a van begin to ride the tail of my truck. I was running at a steady 60 mph but obviously, that wasn’t fast enough for them. They were riding far too close for my comfort, in that if I had to stop abruptly, they surely would have hit me.
In short order, we came to a passing zone, and they went around me. In doing so, they completed the act in a no-passing zone.
Those two acts risked our lives, both of them were unnecessary. And what was really ridiculous was the fact that I never really lost sight of them – they weren’t moving that much faster than I. When they got to a stop sign, I counted off six seconds until I passed them as they pulled into their driveway shortly thereafter.
All those chances taken for a six-second benefit…
#2 – Pretty much everywhere it is unlawful to pass a school bus with its red lights flashing. While it’s not against the law to pass with just our amber lights flashing, doing so takes unnecessary risks – and this happens regularly. No matter how accustomed my students are to my directions, nothing is stopping them from stepping out on the road to get on the bus. It makes no difference that my reds aren’t on. It makes no difference that I’ve not given them the hand signal to cross. They may just do it! And if you’ve “floored it” to get past me before my reds go on, we could easily have an extremely serious situation on our hands. And for what? To save a couple of minutes? A child’s life is worth far more than that, don’t you think?
In today’s passage, a couple of situations arise where it is clearly shown that the parties involved were only concerned about themselves. When the slave girl is set free from her bondage, her “masters” only care about their monetary loss – her wellbeing is not even on the radar with them.
Also, Paul and Silas are stripped and severely beaten with wooden rods and then thrown into prison. That may be alright for Joe Schmo, but the city officials just wanted the whole thing out of their hair. They were only concerned about themselves. They didn’t think about the possible repercussions…and there were plenty of those when they learned that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens!
All in all, we need to take time to think of others. We should not only be concerned about our well-being but with every action we take, we must learn to focus on how what we do might just impact others.
We mustn’t forget Jesus’ words…

“So then, in everything treat others the same way you want them to treat you, for this is [the essence of] the Law and the [writings of the] Prophets.” Matthew 7:12 AMP

“…you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Mark 12:30-31a NLT

It’s not all about you. Go and do likewise.

May 25th, 2022, Wed, 12:39 pm