do you remember the days of slavery?

lemme tell you, god speaks to me in mysterious ways.

sonia and i got a new cat this week. her name is roxanne. right now, she's locked up in our bathroom getting used to the new environment. bob is working on getting used to her too.

this morning, bob hissed at her. he's still trying to assert his authority over the pad, which is normal. but i've been telling him to stop every time he does it. so i said to him this morning "bob, don't you remember the days of slavery? you were in the pound once too, we're just trying to give her a home."

and then i remembered this passage: nehemiah 9 (it's a little long, i won't post it all here. follow the link and read it - check out v.17-20 especially).

how easy is it to forget our days of slavery (not the literal kind, the spiritual kind)? how often do we (at least in our minds) become the spiritual giant that needs to look down his/her nose at people who are struggling or not being obedient in some area of their lives? have we forgotten all of the times that god's grace has embraced us in our sin? what arrogance!

our job is not to devote our lives to being the pharisee that points out everyone else's sins while neglecting to look within. it is to be the one that constantly remembers the days of slavery and consequently lives a life of gratitude and obedience to the one that made our freedom possible.

as we remember the days of slavery, we will learn to help others around us towards obedience to the scriptures not out of mandate or some self imposed status as executor of the law, but as loving brothers and sisters.

romans 13:10 - love does no wrong to a neighbor; love is the fulfillment of the law.