Christ Is Our Example of the Importance of Looking Out for the Interest of Others.

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Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
Philippians 2:4 New Living Translation

Eugene, Oregon
Copyright Douglas P Brauner

I stood on a peninsula in this half-dried pond in Eugene trying to take pictures of blue heron taking off and  landing. This heron was in a perfect place for me to capture its landing, however disappointment seized me when I viewed this picture on my computer. I had my camera setting adjusted properly. I panned my camera with the bird as it glide into the pond and pressed the shutter button.

When I upload this picture to my computer I realized that those $1,500 to $2,000 pieces of glass attached to the front of your camera make a difference when it comes to taking tack sharp images. My $300 lens couldn’t capture all the details of this magnificent bird.

I was about to trash this picture when I saw the turtle on the log and I wondered what he or she was thinking as this over-sized flying machine was about to land on it. Did the heron see it? Did the bird think that its need to land where it wished was more important than the turtle’s safety?

Too often we’re more interested in our own needs being met than helping others meet their’s. We afraid that we’re going to lose something if we don’t take care of our needs first. If we have time and energy then we’ll address the concerns of someone else. Yet, Paul isn’t saying that we’re not to take care of our own needs but that we ought to consider the needs of others too.

Jesus took care of himself. He ate, slept and got plenty of exercise as most of his journeys were on foot, yet he graciously took care of our need for rescue from the hell that we made of our lives. His compassion drove him to his cross. His mercy is our salvation.

May God fill us with Christ’s compassion that we’re willing to put aside our interests and help others meet their’s.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner