Devotion:
Read Matthew 7:9-12.
This is one of two times when Jesus gave a simple teaching and said “all the Law and Prophets” are summed up in it. (The other was when he taught that we were to love God with everything we are and our neighbor as ourself - Matthew 22:37-40.) In our passage for today, he changes the focus of a lot of teaching of his time, which emphasized what not to do. After all, the commandments often said “Do not kill….Do not steal…Do not…”
Still today, we can be content with what we have not done: “I haven’t killed anybody. I haven’t done anything to be put in jail. I haven’t committed this sin or that sin.” Jesus invites us to change our focus to emphasize what we can be doing to positively impact the lives of people around us and change the world in which we live. When you see someone in need or going through a “valley” of any kind, think about what you would hope someone would do for you if you were in that situation, then do that very thing for them.
Yesterday, I mentioned the General Rules that John Wesley established for the early Methodists and that are still part of our teaching: Do no harm. Do good. Stay in love with God. Jesus’ teaching from this passage in Matthew focuses on that second rule. Let it be your focus as well: Do good.
Personal Worship Option:
Here is a quote from Wesley that expanded on that second rule:
“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
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