The Outsider...

There is a common oversight that occurs in many people; they overlook the people around them that aren’t ‘in’ the group. But look at this divine attitude…
“The community has the same rules for you and the foreigner living among you. This is the regular rule for future generations. You and the foreigner are the same before God.” ~Numbers 15:13-15
God has always had an eye for the foreigner. Here it shows up again when He commissions His Jewish people to develop attentiveness and an ‘open door’ policy for foreigners. God makes it clear that He see’s the new person the same as He see’s the natural-born insider. God designed us to be in social circles. In fact, we can’t be healthy and whole people without it. Family circles were His idea. Neighborhood and living circles were His idea. Church and God-family circles were also His idea. So often though, after we’ve been ‘in’ a family circle for a while we forget how isolated it feels to be on the outside looking in. But our Lord has never forgotten that. So when He gathers people together He expects us to have an attentive eye for the ones who feel like they are not in the inner circle. Inclusion and embrace are the order of the day. In the OT, God has always worked mightily for groups that honor the foreigners and brought correction to those who mistreat and ignore them. And in the NT the gospel has spread greatly when Christ’s people have embraced and included the marginalized. If we let Him, Christ will gives us an eye for THE OUTSIDER! ~Verlon