2/7 Quiet Time (Luke 10:25-42 ESV)

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” 38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Helping others sometimes require courage. Loving others means I need to make myself vulnerable and prepared for sacrifices, whether it be time or money. Help me to leave my comfort zone and be ready to be used by God anytime and anywhere! Please guide me to truly love You in order to love my neighbors. Help me to keep close to Your Word like Mary has done, instead of focusing on getting my daily work finished.

 

The Remarkable Ordinary: How to Stop, Look, and Listen to Life 《주목할 만한 일상》 by Frederick Buechner (book I'm currently reading) tells readers to literally stop and pay attention to God and people around us. He also points out that loving God is the same as loving one's neighbors, which I fully agree. 

I don't know what it means to love God - really, I'm not all that good at it - but I think one of the things it means is, just as in the case of loving anybody else, you stop and watch and wait. Listen for God, stop and watch and wait for him. To love God means to pay attention, be mindful, be open to the possibility that God is with you in ways that, unless you have your eyes open, you may never glimpse. He speaks words that, unless you have your ears open, you may never hear. 
사실 나는 하나님을 사랑한다는 게 어떤 의미인지 잘 모릅니다. 나는 그 일에 전혀 능하지 않습니다. 하지만 이 계명의 한가지 의미는, 다른 누구를 사랑하는 경우와 마찬가지로, 걸음을 멈추고 지켜보고 기다리는 것이라고 생각합니다. 하나님에게 귀를 기울리라, 걸음을 멈추고 지켜보고 그분을 기다리라고 말이지요. 하나님을 사랑한다는 것은 주목한다는 것, 마음을 쓴다는 것, 눈을 뜨지 않으면 절대 볼 수 없는 방식으로 하나님께서 나와 함께하실 가능성에 마음을 열어 두는 것을 뜻합니다. 하나님께서는 귀를 열지 않으면 절대 들을 수 없는 말씀을 하십니다.

The faces we lose track of most easily are the faces of the people who are closest to us, the people we love the most whose faces we see so often that we can't really see them anymore.
우리가 아주 쉽게 놓치는 얼굴은 가장 가까운 사람들의 얼굴로, 가장 사랑하는 사람들의 얼굴은 하도 자주 보기 때문에 보기는 보더라도 진정한 의미에서 보는 게 아닙니다.

I pray that in the midst of the things I must do, take care of, and all my problems, I stop and open my eyes and ears to Him. I pray that I stop to appreciate the nature around me and this world - what He has provided for me before I came to existence. I wish I had all that time to stop to love God and people around me, to be ready to give others what He has provided for me!