Care to spare some change?

So many times I wonder how much of what was written in the Holy Scriptures has been lost in translation. How many inferences do we miss simply because we are not familiar with the traditions and culture of God's chosen nation? Our society and lifestyle is so different today that I fear we fail to grasp even the most basic of inferences and parallels. The real question is: how much does this handicap our faith and our walk with God?

Then again, I'm from South Africa where I speak two languages. Each language is unique to our country as we have added and changed many words according to cultural influences. Even the way we speak English sounds different to the rest of the world.

I currently live in a country where they speak only one of the languages I speak (English) and have a different culture altogether. So, I have had to cut out a lot of what was part of my make-up in South Africa in order to include those around me in my conversation.

Now, if I can make this basic adaptation, wouldn't god be able to communicate awesome things to us in out own language? Not that we should attempt to learn the Jewish customs and traditions because it will only serve to bring us even closer to God.

But the bottom line is that we mustn't assume that God will cut us off because we don't have the advantage. Instead, we should embrace the fact that He is mindful of us (Psalm 8:4). He loves us with a sacrificial love which I believe trumps all others.

If you aren't willing to die for someone you don't truly love them with Christ's love. I think about this fact quite often. I'd like to believe that I would and could be that selfless, but in all honesty, I'm not sure that I would be able to make that sacrifice.

This is not where it ends, though, because realizing that you have a love cap, or perversion of what God intended it for, should only be the beginning of change.

A good way to test your selflessness would be to see how freely you could give of your money to others. If you can't even spare some change for someone else chances are you won't be willing to lay your life down either. Sad, but true.