Many Roads

My life has taken me many roads. I guess that is one reason this one subject has repeatedly been laid upon my heart recently. Let me first say that I am in no way asking anyone to deny their beliefs. I am in no way asking anyone to stop serving God. I am actually asking you to do just the opposite. In my life I have had the pleasure of reading many books like In His Steps by Charles M. Sheldon, which inspired me very much in how I looked at and treated others whether I knew who they were or not. Another book that really was great to read was an amazing book by Phillip Yancey titled  What's So Amazing About Grace? (The Visual Edition). Even in reading a book, one never really understands what this is like until one choses to do something for someone they normally do not know or do something for on a daily basis. The more I thought about this recently, I realized that sometimes man chooses to do things solely out of doing it alone, or for some selfish gain, or to look good, or to be able to say "Hey I did my part this week.". Only God knows our hearts. Then I began to think a lot deeper on the issue. I began to think about how deep my experiences have taken me and how this has impacted my thoughts about the people around me and how I see that I should be serving Christ on a daily basis loving those around me. When I look at the world I know there are people not like me. I know there are gangs, I know there are drug users, drug dealers, prostitutes, homosexuals, straights, transgenders, bi-sexuals, homeless people, blacks, whites, hispanics, rich, poor, fat, skinny, you name it and I know it. Who doesn't? I have experienced almost every single person in that list in one way or another on a very personal level. Due to this I have realized that going into a situation I have now got to get rid of all stereotypes, biases, predjudices, and any preconceived thoughts or feelings.  I can't assume someone is rich or poor and when I get there I can't treat them as if they are rich are poor. They are just human. You see Christ knew EVERYTHING about the people He met but not once did He say "Hey I am going to that party at Zach's house," and treat Zacchaeus any better than the other people's homes He visited just because Zacchaeus had money. He didn't love the lepers any less than He loved those who had no disease what so ever. I guess my point is this... Christ loved everyone regardless. He walked into situations with no biases or preconceived thoughts or feelings about the situations. He had one purpose and that was to do His Father's work. That should be our job is to do His work the way He did it.