Dear Fellow Children of God,
Today, I was witness to two small acts of kindness that perhaps were not really all that small. The first actually came from my dog. You see I ended up taking our cat to the vet with an infected foot. The doctor actually did some extensive cleaning of the infection, gave the cat a shot of antibiotics, and sent him home with a fear of the doctor and a bleeding foot. You see, it hurt the cat to get the wound cleaned. When I brought the cat home he lay on the bed he shares with our Labrador retriever. The dog saw the cat, came over and sniffed at the cat. It noticed the foot and licked the wound. Then our dog nudged the cat as it lay down. The dog also laid down near the cat. From observing that interaction I think the dog missed the cat and was, in its own animal way, trying to take care of the cat. Obviously the scene impressed me.
The other act of kindness happened when I brought my grandson, Jacob, home from preschool. I got Jacob out of the car seat and set him on the ground while I carried some other things inside his house. As Jacob walked from the car by himself he started whining, as 3 year olds can. But Jacob’s sister, Emmalee, was concerned. Emmalee ran to her mom and said, “Jacob’s crying.” She missed her brother, cared about the reason he was crying, and ran to tell mom to help Jacob. When asked why he was crying Jacob told his mom, “It’s cold outside.” It was about 35 degrees and there were some flurries in the air. The cold may not seem like much, but Emmalee was genuinely concerned about her brother.
God calls us to “Love one another as I have loved you.” (John 13:34) Love is not just to care about someone, but to show that love, even to tell others we love them.
As I was thinking about these small acts of kindness, love flowing from the heart from one to another, I realized I haven’t told you recently that as a Christian I love you Some of you receiving this devotion are actually family. Many of you are members of St. John. Others are friends. I have not only spent time with you or worshipped with you, but I have also been in many of your homes. I have often prayed for many of you in times of blessing or need. These may seem like easy words to say. Yet, I can honestly say as a family member, as a fellow Christian, as a friend, I care about each of you. But, just caring in my heart keeps it only inside myself. I need to share this.
Love is a powerful blessing. You understand how even these seemingly small acts of kindness I saw today touched me. Now consider the biggest act of love ever. God didn’t just love you in words, but gave His only Son. Jesus, the Son of God, gave His very life for us in love.
I pray the great love of God for you touches you so that you are moved to share care and concern and Christian love with those in your life.
A Child of God, loved by Him and desiring to share that love,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. Here are some pictures of what I expect will be my last fishing trip of the summer. https://picasaweb.google.com/jonrock53/LastDayOfSummerFishing10102011?authuser=0&feat=directlink
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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ - I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have. (I am always adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.) However, if you don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message. . . Or, if you know someone who would like to receive one of these e-mails, please send me their e-mail address.
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