Isaiah 58:9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

Many people complain that God is distant, that He never answers them. They need to read this chapter! The whole chapter is a series of if-then statements, conditional promises. When we ignore the conditions, we can’t count on the promises! God is more than gracious and gives us much better than we deserve, but He does require us to follow His rules, His way of doing things. People think they can be religious without being kind. Frankly, that produces monsters! Others think they can get along fine with everybody but ignore God. That doesn’t work either. God was extremely intentional when He chose crucifixion as the way His Son would die for the sins of mankind. The vertical beam of the cross represents our relationship with Him, and the horizontal beam represents our relationship with those around us; both are essential. When Jesus was asked about the “greatest commandment” He didn’t stop with loving God, He followed up with the command to love our neighbor. (Matthew 22:36-40) We cannot love God in isolation, and we cannot love our neighbor without God’s help. Anyone who genuinely loves God is going to let His love flow through them to those around them, and anyone who genuinely loves their neighbor is going to want them to have a right relationship with God. It’s said as a joke that “I love mankind; it’s individual people I can’t stand.” We aren’t going to get along equally with everyone because of personality differences, but you don’t have to enjoy someone’s presence to be nice to them, and yes, love them. Jesus’ biggest fights were with the Pharisees, who valued legalistic righteousness above everything else, thinking it pleased God. As Paul said so famously in 1 Corinthians 13, no degree of such righteousness is worth anything at all without love.

This is something I need to remember constantly. I desire to draw closer to God, but I cannot ignore those around me on the way. Jesus was very explicit in saying that we serve Him through serving those around us. (Matthew 25) I cannot be “the man of God” and think I am somehow above those around me. God is to be my first priority, but people are to be a close second. I have had very intense times of worship, glorious fellowship with my Lord, but I also know the immense joy and satisfaction of being His agent in blessing the people around me. I cannot be a conduit of His grace unless that grace is flowing to someone.

Father, thank You for the many ways You allow me to bless others. Thank You for the recent joy of blessing people through the Internet. That’s not something I imagined when I started in ministry. Thank You for the many face-to-face encounters You give me with people who need You in a variety of ways. Help me not hold back in any way, but know that Your supply is unlimited, and I don’t have to generate a thing. However I do have to be willing, and sometimes that’s a problem. Help me be fully submitted to You so that I may be fully available as well, for my blessing as well as the blessing of those to whom I minister, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!