Enjoy Life, Enjoy God

DARN FOREIGNERS

June 14, 2010

If we're used to particular people, we don't get too upset when in their midst. However, strangers, for diverse reasons, sometimes give us the willy's!

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When foreigners reside among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigners residing among you must be as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
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- Leviticus 19:33,34 TNIV

Have you ever walked into a diner or restaurant in a small town. All the locals stop what they're doing and gape at you as if to say, "Who's that? A darn foreigner." God reminds us that we're all foreigners. God tells the people that they are to welcome foreigners, and to treat them as if they are your own kindred.

Might it be that the ways of God are "foreign" to us? Christ's ways challenge our kneejerk reaction to strangers, to people with whom we're unfamiliar. Maybe the next time we use the word, "foreigner," we'd do well to remember that God tells us we are all foreigners.
Joyfully,

Dale Patterson