NorthStar Community Daily Devotional

June 12 - Neighbors

Scripture focus: The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish. John 1:14 (The Message)

Why did Jesus move into the neighborhood? Was it a good time to buy property? Early in my introduction to Jesus, people told me he came to earth to save me from my sins. My child's mind heard this, "You are so bad, God had to send his son to live on planet earth to protect the world from you." This teaching was also paired with the song, "Jesus loves me this I know for the bible tells me so, little ones to him belong, they are weak but he is strong." So I figured I was bad and weak. I imagined that God had to fling Jesus from heaven against his will. Who would willingly leave heaven, especially if the purpose of the visit is to deal with all the bad people who are too weak to help themselves?

I lived with this God-is-reluctant-but-able-to-save you philosophy for many years. I tried to make it easier for Jesus to live in my neighborhood by being a good girl. On those days when I couldn't quite carry out my best intentions, I learned some coping strategies – blaming, defending, manipulating, and self-deceiving. I even learned how to starve myself so that I could be needless and wantless – totally self-sufficient.

All these efforts to hide my weakness in a vain attempt to make life more bearable for a reluctant traveling God left me exhausted and disingenuous. So it came as quite a shock and a great relief to hear that I had ascribed wrong motives to Jesus' transfer from heaven to earth.

Jesus, who lives in complete harmony with God, came to earth and moved into the neighborhood to protect, not to spy or judge or condemn or punish. He moved into the neighborhood because he loved us and his father, not because we were a pain in his holy neck. God didn't send Jesus to earth to handle the sin problem – because sin can't be managed. He sent him in flesh and blood form to demonstrate his love for us.

God desires to protect us. Generous inside and out, true from start to finish, God's desire to renovate and restore is an act of protective love not a shame-driven desire to whip his children into shape. Jesus moves into the neighborhood because we delight him, not in response to disappointment with our human foibles and limitations.

What would life be like in each of our neighborhoods if we held tightly to the belief and firm conviction that God desires to protect us from the dangers that our vulnerabilities to sin and shame expose us to on a daily basis?

Recommended reading: Psalm 56-58

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