Love Your Neighbor, Luke 1:67-68

Jesus tells us in Mathew 22 to “love your neighbor.”  This can look like many different things: bringing food to a friend who just had a baby, caring for the kids of a friend while they have an appointment, sending a “thinking of you” card.  What about the “neighbors” that we cross paths with every day?  How do we love them also?  I have been encouraged to take the zeal and excitement that is described in Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth in chapter 1 verses 67-68 where Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.” When we read these verses I would encourage us to have a kind of excitement that just bubbles out of us.  The hope that we have in the birth of Christ and the redemption he provides through his death on the cross should exude from us.  I saw a study recently that compared our country’s current culture and the level of socializing done in previous decades.  The amount of socializing in our country has significantly reduced due to the large amount of time people spend on their phones.   This Christmas season (and throughout the year) we have the opportunity as we are in the grocery store, walking in the parking lot, going through the line at the pharmacy, etc. to share the excitement in our hope of Christ’s redemption with others.  Simply by placing our phones away, smiling and being conversational with the teller at the bank, saying thank you to the attendant helping with the self-check-out or reading the name tag of the teenager checking us out at Dillons and greeting them by name…we can share the love of Jesus simply by being present, smiling and being personable.  Let’s go out this Christmas shopping season and show the joy we have, in our hope of a Savior, by being friendly with our neighbors. 

Erica C.