CREDIT
Today's reading: Luke 4-6

"Do you think you deserve credit merely for loving those who love you? Even the sinners do that!" Luke 6:32 NLT

"If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that." Luke 6:32 MSG

Credit-the balance in a person's favor in an account; influence or power derived from enjoying the confidence of another or others; good name; esteem; source of honor; recognition; acknowledgement.

I don't know about you, but two filmstrips of faces just flashed across my mind as I read this portion of Scripture.

I see the lovable faces on one of the spools of film. The smiling. The related. The cute. The pleasant. The easy to get along with. The faces of those who are loving and who love me right back. Beautiful, lovely people.

Then the other filmstrip plays. Dark and grainy. No re-touching on any of the frames. No photo-shopping to remove any unwanted warts, moles or frowns. The faces of folks who are short with me in their words and in their tones. The grimacing. The grumpy. The hard to get along with. The demanding. The always-needing, never-giving. The mugs of folks I find it hard to love because they are less than lovely.

And I want credit from God for loving the ones on the first set of faces?

I want to be acknowledged by God for 'doing my duty'?

I want a pat on the back from God for loving the kind and considerate around me?

I want to show up in heaven to a round of applause for loving the easy?

How dare I?

I needed this verse this morning.

I needed it badly.