Hi how are you today? Yes this post is late. This week my youngest son had major surgery for a heart valve replacement. He is doing well now but my trust and faith in God is tested through these types of seasons. Do you agree? How do you navigate these tough seasons? I know God is doing a major work in me regarding my trust level as it seems I can’t get a break.

This week I want to focus on the world news a bit- not to give my opinion but to give us all a reminder. We have had major floods in my country and there is the war between Russia and Ukraine. Jesus told us our world would get like this. But one of the most sobering scriptures for these days is found in Matthew 24:12b “but the love of many will grow cold”.

Does this mean the love of things, the love of experiences or the love of food? No- it means our love for people will grow cold. We will become apathetic to the things happening in the world. We will find ourselves glancing over the news headlines thinking just another war or just another 20 people died from Covid-19 and all the while our heart for people is growing colder.

Why should this matter as Christians? Let’s look at a few reasons:

1. God created people in His own image. If God created us that means He loves us and we are worth it.

2. God does not measure His treasure in ounces of gold but in the hearts and souls of people. People are Gods greatest treasure and if He treasures them, and we have His nature on the inside of us, then we need to treasure people too.

3. God gave up His only son as a sacrifice. He sent Jesus from heaven to earth to be our substitute sacrifice so our eternity would not be in hell but in heaven. God loves people so much, He wants them where He is.

4. God wants us to willingly love Him and have His love in us towards others. God is love and everything He does is out of love for people. He created dogs because He knew we would need them. He created fruit and vegetables because He knew it would nourish us. He created blue seas, green valleys and snow capped mountains because they are pretty and He wants us to enjoy them.

God did everything for people from creation to sending His son. So if people are important to God then they should be important to us too. So when watching or reading the news, let’s not forget about the people element. The soldiers whose wives and children are waiting for them, the grandmas who are praying, the parents putting their lives on the line to protect their family and the leaders who are sacrificing time with their family to deal with the crises that are happening.

Satan wants to take our eyes off the people element and concentrate on the newsreels and pictures of the physical devastation. But let’s not forget about people.

This week let’s pray for people all around and keep our hearts soft with love for others. This is one way we keep living the life God intended for all of us.

Bless you

Karen