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Good Neighbors from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

We need to be good neighbors, and in turn, make the world a better place. Ever since Adam and Eve had children and one killed the other, learning to live in peace has been an ongoing thing. Most of the Ten Commandments are about how we treat each other. The word neighbor occurs about 153 times in the New King James Version (NKJV).

Over the years, God had to give many, many more commandments about how we treat neighbors. Apparently people kept finding loopholes, so we have fine, clear, concise commandments like: "You shall not disfigure your neighbor…" (Leviticus 24:19). Which suggests that some of the people tried to get around the murder commandment by not finishing the job.

The list of commandments grew from 10 to over 600, and covered lying, cheating, adultery, murder, disfigurement, buying your neighbor, or selling them, and so much more. There are even notes about when a man can marry his sister-in-law, and when he cannot (Deuteronomy 25:5, Leviticus 18:16). Men are forbidden to marry their mother-in-law. I am thinking most of us will obey that one automatically... (Leviticus 20:14).

Something that I have learned while building websites and programming is never to try and block what you don't want, but instead to allow what you do want. For example, we once hosted a website for a local church and the pastor's son took care of it for them. He soon uploaded a video plugin that unknowingly had a security exploit in it and the server was compromised.

After I cleaned up the resulting mess and moved their site to another host, I discovered that the programmer had designed the plugin with a blocklist of file types to prevent uploads, including the usual .php, .perl, .py, and so on. However, you can never cover everything with such a list, as people will always come up with something new. In this case, it was the .phtml file type that allowed executable scripts to be uploaded to the server. By exploiting loopholes like this, they bypass your rules. This is essentially what kept happening with the neighbor rules:

"Don't cut off your neighbor's leg. No, nor his arm… No, not that either!"

Jesus Christ came and greatly simplified it, but also made it cover even more: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39). Jesus didn't abolish the previous laws that existed, but now the test is simply: "Would you like this done to you?" Paul said it this way

(Romans 13:8–10 NKJV) Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

All the previous commandments are covered with "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Think of "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." "Give, and it shall be given to you." and "What you sow, you shall also reap." (Matthew 7:12), (Luke 6:38), (Galatians 6:7).

"Love your neighbor as yourself" covers all the bases. From the Old Testament and into the New, God is consistent about how to treat our neighbors: We are to love them. We should always treat them like we would like to be treated.

Today, many feel as though the Lord is distant, as if He doesn't care or know what is happening in our insignificant lives. I believe this feeling partly arises from the cruelty and violence prevalent in the world today. People wonder, if God is so powerful, all-knowing, and wonderful, why doesn't He address all these issues? Why doesn't He make the world a better place? Here's a reason:

(Psalm 115:16 NKJV) The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD's; But the earth He has given to the children of men.

God has given us the Earth, and it is precisely what we have made it. If we want the Earth to be a better place, we need to become better stewards. For example, people wouldn't be shot if no one shot them. God already told us, "Do not murder. Love your neighbor, and treat others as you would like to be treated." If everyone did that, our world would be a better place to live.

The Lord will not force us to do anything that we don't want to. We are free to behave, or misbehave as we like. For example: We can choose to be a Christian, an agnostic, a satanist, or a doctor, and so many more. We can choose to be the firefighter, or the arsonist, the police officer, or the robber. That choice is entirely ours to make, and the Earth has become what our choices have made it. Look around at what we have created. Impressive? Is it odd that the most beautiful places on Earth are the ones that we haven't touched yet?

We have freedom to make our choices, but when we do, the Lord underwrites our decisions:

"If that is what you have chosen, then very well, that is what you shall have." He told the Israelites in the wilderness:

(Numbers 14:28 NKJV) "As I live,' says the LORD, 'just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you."

Oh God loves us, He loves us so much that He will let us have what we truly desire. For example, Eve was free to pick the forbidden fruit and eat it, though the Lord had told them not to. Our choices carry consequences.

The way that the Lord makes the Earth a better place, without removing people's freewill, is to remove us from it. Make no mistake about it, He has done it before (Genesis 7:20–22), and when the time comes, He will do it again (2 Peter 3:10). It is just like the matrix resetting itself and starting over. Solomon wrote: "There is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, See, this is new? It has already been in ancient times before us." (Ecclesiastes 1:9–10 NKJV).

This is just another harvest cycle for the Earth, and each of us has to make the best of living with bad neighbors while trying to be good neighbors. How can God sort us out? We have all been wicked at some point. Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future. How can God separate the wicked from the wicked? He lets them all grow together until the end, the weeds and the wheat. They live their lives, and they become what they really are. For some, there will be some hot days ahead:

(Matthew 13:30 NKJV) Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." ' "

(Matthew 13:41–42 NKJV) The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire...

(Malachi 4:1 NKJV) "For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up," Says the LORD of hosts...

(2 Peter 3:10–13 NKJV) But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

A tree is known by the fruit that it bears, and they will be sorted out at the end. Each of us will get our reward. The choices that we make during our life will determine what that will be. Jesus told us:

(Matthew 24:38–39 NKJV) "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."

When Jesus returns to Earth, it will happen instantly, suddenly, and irreversibly. There will be no second chances. The mature fruit hanging all over you that was produced by the choices that you have already made, will instantly tell Him and His angels all they need to know about you. Just as the door on Noah's ark was first sealed by the Lord, and then the rain came, no words on that day will change the outcome for it will be too late. It is a sobering thought. Today is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Give your heart to Jesus (Romans 10:9-10).

Keep His commandments and turn away from evil (John 14:15).

Start being a good neighbor today (Luke 10:27).

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please let me see others through Your eyes. Let me carry Your love, Your peace, and Your presence wherever I go. Help me touch those around me for the better. I want to be a good neighbor, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.