Sitting alone in the dark is one of my favorite things to do. Why? Because outside influences are relatively few. That's a problem our society has today. Too many outside influences. They distract us from God and that is NEVER a good thing.
"Alone, in the dark" is also where I get most of my ideas for these stories, like today's story for example. First, I had better explain what a Discmania Mystery Box is before you quit reading. It's a box full of disc golf discs. The point is that the buyer doesn't really know what's inside and you always receive more than you thought you would.
People are like a mystery box, until we "open them up" and find out more about them. Then we have to decide what to do with the contents. Some people get discarded because they don't have the same beliefs as we do. Some people don't make the cut in our lives because of their skin color, sexual orientation or political persuation. That's wrong. That's not the point of the mystery box. The point is the way you feel BEFORE you open the box.
What if God placed someone in your life that He wanted you to love but you refused to do so. How do you think that would go for you? Would God bless you because of your refusal to love?
"Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” - Matthew 22:37-40
There are no qualifiers in Jesus' command here. We are to love our neighbor! Period. That's everybody! It's the overweight black man sitting in McDonald's all by himself. It's the oddly-dressed lesbian couple who just walked in. It's the disabled woman with the shriveled arm that is taking your order. It's everybody.
When God gives us a mystery box human, He wants us to love that person. He doesn't care if they are Republican or Democrat, black or white, gay or straight. He wants us to love . . . everybody!
I watched The Blues Brothers movie the other day - a movie from my younger, pre-believer days. There is a song in that movie that fits this story perfectly. At the beginning of the song there's not a lot of love in the audience. But as the crowd listens to the words, things change. That's how God effects our hearts when we read His Word. We change. and we love.
Everybody Needs Somebody To Love - The Blues Brothers
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