Oct – 21 – ENEMY!

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him” (Romans 12:20).

There are some duties which one has to perform to one’s parents; one’s friends and one’s relatives. At the same time, there are some enemies to whom you have to show mercy.

A small girl belonging to a Christian family bought two young chicks and was nurturing them with love and care. She used to find termites, worms, insects etc. and feed the chicks. She made use of the pocket money to buy grains for them. The young ones were growing hale and healthy day after day.

One day, by chance, the chicks reached the fence of the opposite house in search of food. The resident of that house was an ill-tempered person. He caught hold of them, screwed their necks and threw them away. Both the chicks fell dead. How sad the girl would have been! But she comforted herself in Christ and stayed calm.

She took the dead chicks, gave them to her mother and asked her to cook them. After cooking, she took the prepared food to the opposite home and gave it to the ill-tempered man. She told him, “Uncle, I think you would be hungry. God inspired me to give this as food to you.” What the girl did and spoke, affected the man greatly and was startled. This made him cry and also repent.

The way to behave with the enemies was different in those days of ignorance. In Genesis 4:23, Lamech says, “For I have killed a man for wounding me, even a young man for hurting me.” It was the time of ignorance in which killing a life was resorted to even for small issues.

Then came the time of law. It was a tit for tat period wherein one cannot get murdered for causing injury but he can be wounded. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth was the policy during those days. Then came the days of Jesus Christ. The oath of love began to rule the world. The habits of revenging became a thing of the past and if one slaps on one cheek, the grace of showing the other cheek became the order of the day.

Dear children of God, God who whole-heartedly gave Salvation and Forgiveness to those who had nailed Him on the Cross, will also give you the grace to forgive your enemies. 

To meditate: “See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all” (I Thessalonians 5:15).