February 11 - Dances with Angels (LOVE - February 11 - 16)
February 11
Dances with Angels
Bible Reading: Matthew 5:43-48 (see also Luke 6:27, 32)
43“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45that 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. 46For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
RAYBANN AND SOLOPLEX, two of heaven's angels, exchanged high fives. "Yyyyyesss!" Raybann shouted. He grabbed Soloplex and started twirling him around and around in a dizzying dance of celebration in the thin air above the earth.
"Did you see that?" Soloplex shouted. "Whoosh!"
They turned and peered together at the scene below them. The Israelites stood, high and dry, on the banks of the Red Sea. They had just crossed to freedom and safety as Raybann and Soloplex, under instructions from God, had rolled back the waters of the sea. The Israelites had hurried across the channel on the miraculously dry ground, while the armies of Egypt pursued them on horses and chariots. Once God's chosen people had safely reached the opposite shore, Raybann and Soloplex released the water, and the entire Egyptian army had been drowned in the returning waters of the sea, prompting the delirious celebration of the two angels.
Upon their return to heaven, however, Raybann and Soloplex were summoned into the presence of God. They were shocked to find the blinding light of His face dimmed and His expression sad.
"Is the Holy One not pleased with our success?" Raybann asked, bowing before God's throne with his face to the ground.
"You rejoice," God said. It was not a question.
"Your people are delivered, and their enemies are dashed to pieces," Soloplex reported.
God looked at his two messengers, and the sorrow in His expression turned their white robes to gray. "The work of My hands is sunk in the sea, and you rejoice!"
That story is a variation on a tale that has been told by rabbis for centuries to illustrate the love of God. Although Pharaoh and His armies sought to enslave--even destroy--God's chosen people, God loved them as He loves all His creation. And He makes it clear that He wants His children to display that same kind of love, even to those who are mean and hateful. He didn't say it would be easy to do those things, but He did say it is right.
REFLECT: Have you ever rejoiced at the fall of an enemy? How do you feel about that person now? Do you think Jesus' command to "love your enemies" instead of hating them means you have to feel love toward everyone? Does it mean acting in loving ways? Both? Neither?
PRAY: "God, thank you for Your love and for reminding me that love is always right. Help me especially to love today _________________________ so that I may act as a true child of my Father in heaven."