SCRIPTURE: Obadiah 1
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
The day of the LORD is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head. [Obadiah 1:15]
The people of Israel are the descendants of Jacob, the people of Edom come from Esau.
In the day of Israel’s fall, the people of Edom gloated and attacked the victims.
Instead of helping their needy brothers, they turned on them.
Obadiah declares that how they treated others, they will be treated.
What goes around comes around…
Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. [Matthew 7:1-2]
Jesus affirms this same principle, that how we treat others will come back to us.
What a scary thought, it ought to humble and concern each one of us.
For who hasn’t mistreated or misjudged another person?
Right after this passage quoted above Jesus talks about pointing to the speck in a brother’s eye while ignoring the plank in our own [Matthew 7:3f].
The point of all this is that we need to look at others not as enemies but as people like us, in need of mercy and grace.
We have just as many problems as the next person.
The people of Edom had often been mistreated, they were not a strong nation.
Think of them like a child that had been bullied for years; they should have known how hurtful bullying is.
Now when someone else is being bullied, what do they do?
They become bullies, they become the very thing they hated in others.
We all need mercy and forgiveness, how dare we refuse to give it to others.
Do we think we are better than others?
Jesus silences this lie once and for all – your issues are the size of a plank, while your brother’s issues are only a speck (to you; to him they are a plank).
In other words, humble yourself before the Lord, and treat others with mercy too.
Think about it, how we treat others is how we will be treated.
How will that affect how you treat others today?
PRAYER:
Lord, help me to see how this applies to me personally today. Give me an opportunity to show mercy and grace, and help me to do it!