Following the Path

But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity; Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.  For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head. Obadiah 1:12-15

Last week, I wrote about addiction and my thoughts around what we should do.  Today, I bring you the follow-up.  In Obadiah, God let's us know that we should not just ridicule or think too harshly about the condition that someone else is in. He wants us to develop that compassionate heart to care for our brother. As we can see from the passage above, we are taken back to the prayer in Matthew 6, where if we forgive others, we will be forgiven.  If we don't, then we can fall into the same trouble that we are ridiculing others about.  

We want to be sure that we are following the path of Christ and helping our fellow man.  Not just watching them fall.  We can all look into our lives and see where we have done well and fallen short.  Let us hope that when the opportunity presents itself, we will be strong in the Lord and the power of His Might and help our brothers and sisters.  Think about when you speak with a saint in distress, how when their faith shines through, you feel better and your spirit is lifted.  

Be Encouraged,

Martin