A weekday morning devotional series written by Aaron Marcarelli and hosted by Chad McBeam
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or what person is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? So if you, despite being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 7:7-12 NASB2020
https://bible.com/bible/2692/mat.7.7-12.NASB2020
Today we look at verse 12 and the “Golden Rule”
Once again we have a therefore, which is why I have put all the verses from this section above. The therefore of verse 12 applies the continued instruction, therefore because we are so evil by nature, we are still acknowledged by God as His children and we are promised answers to prayer. Therefore, rather than judging others, we are to treat them, as we would like to be treated. I turned to Wycliffe commentary for further explanation of these verses “the summary of the Old Testament restatement of the second table of the law and rests upon the first, man’s relation to God is always basic to his relation with our fellow human being.”
Wycliffe is referring to God’s two greatest commandments. “And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22:37-40 NASB2020
Jesus knows who we are, we are practical people and we want things to make sense. So far the sermon on the Mount has been stories and parables and metaphors, that in some cases are difficult to take. But, here is something we can all understand. Treat others the way we want to be treated. Sounds easy. Not always. However, when we do treat others well God does amazing things.
Let me impart a little story. Yesterday as I was driving home I was merging from one highway(freeway) to another and in that transition there is also an on ramp and lane closures! It’s very confusing I know, but that’s Texas road construction for you. Anyway a lot of people (including myself most days) try to cut off some of the traffic by being in the fastest lane and merging at the last possible second. Yesterday, however I was not one of those who merged at the last second, however there was a brand new corvette that tried to merge and nobody was letting her in, so I gave her room and let her in. She humbly waved and smiled. I felt good. It was nice. That would have been a nice story about the Golden Rule but God always has more. A little while later there was an accident and I had to merge because my lane was closed and what do ya know the car that lets me merge is that Corvette that was in such a hurry. It was evident that she remembered it was me who did the same for her in the previous situation. Are we supposed to do what is right by others because we will receive it from others? No we are supposed to treat others like we want to be treated because it’s what God calls us to do!
Lord we thank and praise your Holy and perfect name! We thank you for your commandments. Help us to love you with all our heart soul mind and strength so that we can love our neighbors and treat them like we want to be treated. Thank you for helping us make sense of a cruel and senseless world. We trust you and your words. Help us to truly follow you. In Jesus Name Amen…
Shalom Shalom blessings and Press In and Press On!