deaf ears & blind eyes

1 John 3

11 This is the message you have heard from the beginning:

We should love one another.

12 We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother.

And why did he kill him?

Because Cain had been doing what was evil,

and his brother had been doing what was righteous.

13 So don't be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.

  14 If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life.

But a person who has no love is still dead.

15 Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart.

And you know that murderers don't have eternal life within them.

  16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us.

So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.

17 If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God's love be in that person?

18 Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other;

let us show the truth by our actions.

19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth,

so we will be confident when we stand before God.

20 Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.

  21 Dear friends, if we don't feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence.

22 And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.

  23 And this is his commandment:

We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,

and love one another, just as he commanded us.

24 Those who obey God's commandments remain in fellowship with him,

and he with them.

And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.

“Verse 17 If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God's love be in that person?”

Why does it feel like we have turned a deaf ear to verse 17?

Why does it feel like we have turned a stone cold deaf ear to this basic thought?

Why does it feel like we are completely & utterly ignoring this basic thinking in this passage...

...that we should love one another,

...& that that love compels & energizes us toward helping those who are in need?

Why does it feel like all of us, even those who claim the name of Jesus, have incrementally & willfully wandered away from the 2 basic things we must be about...?

...love God...

...love others.

Something's up, people.

I think there's much more going on in our nation, & in our world, than we see, know about, or acknowledge.

Something's going on,

& we need to be very, very careful.

There are none so blind as those who will not see.

Let us all open our eyes & try to see what is really going on.