Look In The Mirror: Isolationism

LET US LOOK IN A MIRROR --- MOVING TO ISOLATION?

By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com

I have a bunch of banana’s and I lift them high. Is there a lesson here? They are all safe together … but when you break one from the bunch it will be isolated, skinned and it will be ate.

WARNING, WARNING: Life is about priorities… This is a dangerous lesson and can easily be abused or neglected. First let us start out in this lesson by addressing the most important issue.

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment.

Come with me as we make this a priority system. The priority is not LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR FIRST. It is secondary. LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and then LOVE YOURSELF… Do we honestly recognize God and His son Jesus as God? Jesus is the way, the truth, the light and the life. Do we really love God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind? Do we KNOW OF GOD, or DO WE REALLY KNOW GOD?

Jeremiah 24:7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

LOVE MUST BE OUR GOAL AND PURPOSE in our daily walk. LOVE NEVER FAILS.

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Patterson tells us that Jesus said, Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence. This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: Love others as well as you love yourself.

Romans 13:9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

LOVE GOD? LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR? LOVE YOURSELF ARE ALL AT THE ROOT OF THE GOLDEN RULE… DO WE UNDERSTAND THE ROOT STRUCTURE OF THIS LOVE IS FOUND IN THE STORY OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN? WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR? LOOK IN THE MIRROR!

Matthew 7:12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

Hebrews 13:1 Let brotherly love continue. (Will we keep on loving others, or will we quit?)

John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

NO MAN IS AN ISLAND TO HIMSELF… Is an idiomatic expression… (words that mean more than the sum total of the words: Like raining cats and dogs)

A person requires the company and support of others, the church and society to thrive. We need each other. We depend on one another. Each person is a piece of the Master’s Plan and Purpose. There is a tendency for people to desire to withdraw from other people. People make me angry? People hurt my feelings? Therefore we desire ISOLATION. God designed us as social beings. We need our families, churches and communities to thrive.

In 1624 a man named JOHN DONNE penned these words:

*No man is and island entire of itself, every man is a piece of a continent, a part of the main. If a clod of dirt be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less…

THERE IS GREAT POWER IN UNITY AND TOGETHERNESS…

Matthew 12:25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:

Luke 11:17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.

I HAVE A SKEIN OF YARN, AS I TALK I RUN A PIECE OF RED YARN TO EACH INDIVIDUAL IN THE CROWD… THEN I ATTACH IT TO THE CROSS ON THE PODIUM, TO ILLUSTRATE HOW IMPORTANT WE ARE TOGETHER…. LET US CALL IT A GOD’S KNOT

Ecclesiastes 4:12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

WHEN A WHOLE COMMUNITY COMES TOGETHER…

I read 50 years ago of a lady in a community. She had mental issues and had little to nothing to do with anyone. Occasionally she would allow a man to visit for a night. She had four children, NO ONE KNEW. There was a small cave behind her house. Her children were locked in the cave 24/7. There was a door built over the entrance of the cave. The children were locked in the cave and they never had lights, just the sunlight. The children never saw anyone. In the darkness of night the mom placed food through a hole into a pig trough. The kids crawled on all fours. They ate the food like a dog or a pig. They could not talk. They could not walk. They had no bowel control. They had no social skills whatsoever as they were never around humans.