By Tony Williams
As we have just recently completed our Thanksgiving holiday, perhaps we have not been able to enjoy the full complement of family and friends. The Coronavirus has limited my family Thanksgiving to only our immediate family. Rather than two Thanksgiving dinners with each side of our family, we chose to forego traveling. However, I still feel blessed and thankful for my family and the ability to talk to them over Thanksgiving.
When I think of what I am thankful for, I often wonder if I am doing enough for those who are less fortunate. Considering how God has blessed me, do I show appreciation? Do I take any of his marvelous blessings for granted? Matthew 5:46-47 is a Scripture which causes me to feel uneasy, when the Lord instructs us: “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?”
What satisfaction is there for those whose love is only returned to those who love them? The principle of love that Jesus is trying to explain here is the love that makes men more like Jesus. It goes beyond the love of regular men. It is this principle of love that is explained in the preceding verse (Matt. 5:45): “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” God’s benevolence has no distinction, he does good to both good and evil. The sun that God created for us is still in his control, it still shines equally on the good and the bad, the same with the blessing of rain. Do we do the same? With me, there is always room for improvement.