“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,....and thy neighbor as thyself:”
“What do you find so hard in this verse?” asked the teacher.
“When I think of the goodness of God, and how He cares for us every moment of our lives; gives us food and clothing, and above all, gave His only begotten Son to die for us, then it seems to me we are obliged to love Him. But the second part of the verse I do not understand, ‘Thou shalt lave thy neighbor as thyself,’” said the boy.
“And why not?”
“My neighbors next door are very bad people: they drink and quarrel, and the man swears, and they even send their children out to beg. I can’t love these people, even if I want to, and I don’t want to have anything to do with them.”
“You think this verse compels you to be intimate with these people, when other passages of God’s Ward tell us to keep away from bad company?” questioned the teacher. “Can you recall a verse which tells us to avoid such people?” And William repeated these two:
“That is correct, and Scripture never contradicts itself. We are never to make companions of those who are going on in a wicked course.”
They read the story of the good Samaritan, closing with words,
“Go, and do thou likewise.”
“Does not this tell to whom you should show the kindness of a neighbor?” asked the teacher.
“It is anyone to whom I can show kindness and love,” replied the boy.
“Yes. These wicked people of whom you spoke are not your neighbors because they live next door to you; but if you could in any way show them love and kindness, you would be showing in a small measure the love the Lord Jesus has shown you when He loved you and died for you. He is the only One who has fully loved His neighbor as Himself, but you would be going directly against the Word of God if you sought their company, and amused yourself with them. If, on the other hand, you saw them in misery and sickness, and went to visit them, telling them of Jesus and His love, helping them in any way you could, doing as you would be done by if in the same position yourself, you would be proving by your actions that you love your neighbor.”
William thought because his parents were poor, and he had nothing to give it would be impossible to carry out this word. His teacher urged him not to hide his one talent and continued,
“You can treat all with whom you come in contact in a kind, amiable way; and since you know the Lord, you can pray for those in need. Remember, it is the love of God that is the motive: just as His love flows into your heart, you will be able to show love to your neighbor. Our neighbor is anyone whom we can serve in any way. No matter how small the service, if it is done in faith and love, it will rejoice the heart of God. You can lead others to Christ. In His sight it will be far more than giving great gifts to the poor.”
Some years later when William had a good position in a commercial house and was going to night school, he was seen frequently to take his Bible and leave too early for his night classes. One evening his father followed him and found him in the room of a very poor afflicted boy who was dying.
William had heard of the sufferings of this boy, and of his fear of death. Here was an opportunity to show the great love the Lord Jesus had shown to him when He gave Himself for him. William hastened to the dying boy with the water of life, and the thirsty soul of the boy drank in the words of eternal life on hearing them the first time. He was drawn by faith to that One who says,
Thus William carried out what he had learned. He made use of the talent God had given him in his feeble way.
Dear readers, if you know Jesus as your Saviour, go and do likewise. If you have not yet been washed in the blood of Christ, you can know nothing of what it is to love your neighbor in this way. Before you can lead others to Him, the word to you is first,
ML 07/10/1938