A Fabulous Debt

Our dogs can be obnoxious.  Whenever our next-door neighbor’s kids or dogs play in their backyard, Sig and Uzi run along the wooden fence barking with some dog-only-knows obsession. When birds fly overhead or geese land on the pond, they race the length of the yard yapping, trying to create a “no-fly zone.” Phil and Julie never complain. Graciously, they say the noise does not bother them and they like dogs so don’t worry about it.

When John, the single neighbor on our right, deploys on his submarine with the Navy, I get his mail, mow his lawn, and make sure his house is okay.  When he gets custody of his two children, Stacy and I sometimes watch them because he has to work. It is a blessing to be able to serve him.  John often helps me fix things around the house because I’m a mechanical idiot.  
 
Meditation
Romans 13:8-10--Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet; and whatever other commandment—all are summed up by this: Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law.
 
God gave us laws because of our sinful nature. If there were no sinful nature, there would be no need for laws because we would naturally do the right thing. Unfortunately, it is too easy for us to hone in on laws and what we are not supposed to do (legalism) and miss the greater truth, which is the fulfillment of law—loving one another.
           
To be in debt is usually a bad thing.  But did you know there is a fabulous debt we should all incur?  It is owing love to one another; especially our neighbors. Love fulfills the law. When we are motivated to treat people well, we don’t have to worry about adultery, murder, stealing, or coveting. Our intent is to bless, not engage in perverse, self-absorbed behavior.
           
If we wonder why the world is not clamoring to know Jesus, could it be because we are not clamoring to love our neighbors, coworkers, and people we encounter every day?  What is awesome about love is the effect it has on us. The giver is blessed as much as the receiver. The heart heals. The mind mends. The soul sweetens. The body beams. God, the personification of love, is honored.

In her novel The Fountainhead, Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum, better known as Ayn Rand, wrote, “Give me love and shove all your philosophers up your stovepipe.”[1] Rand developed a philosophical system called Objectivism. She rejected faith and religion and promoted rational and ethical egoism. Her profound cry for love makes me wonder who her neighbors were. Who missed the opportunity to be Jesus to this brilliant writer?  Let us own this fabulous debt to love each other.  Something to think about . . . in reveration!  
 
Inspiration
“The Jesus of the Bible lives by a simple philosophy: If love guides our hearts, rules become redundant. Love, embraced as a guiding orientation of other-centeredness, will always lead us to do the right thing.”—Bruxy Cavey in The End Of Religion
 
©2025 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  To receive these devotionals, go to www.firstcause.org and click the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed, subject to the inclusion of this copyright notice.     
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand