Seize the Moment – Day 478
From Exclusion to Embrace!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, July 8.
What motivates you to be kind and accepting of other people?
The Israelites were commanded by God to have empathy with strangers! They were to share the feelings of exclusion because they, too, were once strangers. God is commanding them to never forget their humble beginnings in a tangible way.
This motivation is carried over into the New Testament. Listen to 1 Peter 2:9-10 define the identity of every new covenant believer:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Seize the moment and remember from what you were saved so that you may have the empathy to move from excluding the stranger to embracing them as a fellow citizen.