Matthew 7: 12

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets”.

When last have you practiced the Golden Rule?  For some of you it might have been so long that we might be saying, what is that?  Well it is “Do to others what you would have (like) them to do to you”. What is it that you would love someone to do for you right now? When last have you gone to someone who could not return the favour and shower them with something they badly needed and can’t even begin to repay you?

This passage calls us out badly.  The irony is that Jesus nicely tells us this principle after telling us how to be effective in prayer.  Matthew 7:7-11 focuses our attention on keep asking, looking, knocking and how we will be rewarded.  The section ends with the reminder that our Heavenly Father gives good gifts to those who ask him.  But Jesus being Jesus does not stop there with the vertical relationship, He points us to the horizontal.  In other words, Jesus is saying now you know that your Big Daddy Jehovah will not withhold good gifts from you his children, so do to others what you would want for yourself.  Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we made the Golden Rule a part of our daily, hourly and minutely practice?  Think on these things and then put them into practice.

PRAYER

Daddy, help us to embody the Golden Rule so that it becomes a part of our makeup and so that we become more like you.  In Jesus name,  Amen.