Mr. Rogers had a bunch of them. Every kid wanted to be one to him. What is it? A neighbor.
Mr. Rogers’ invitation to children began when the sweater and the sneakers came on. He was gentle and kind and made the children feel as though they were the most important people in his neighborhood.
If only we could be as gentle and kind to our neighbors. I have the sweetest neighbor. She keeps her eye on our house, gets our mail and waters our flowers when we need her to. It’s so great to have a kind neighbor.
But Jesus tells us that neighbors are more than just those who live across from us.
He explained in Mark 12:29-31 that the most important commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and then the second most important command is to love your neighbor as yourself.
Boy, we love ourselves don’t we? We want the best for us. We don’t want to hurt or suffer. We want to have God bless us and protect us.
Well, then I guess if we want to obey this command, then we need to pray for those things for others.
Our prayer challenge for today is to pray for our neighbors. As we drive to work or school or walk the dog, pray for each house we pass and ask God to bless them and comfort them for the day. Whether we know them or not, they are our neighbor and God wants us to love them as much as we love ourselves.
It will be amazing how focusing on others and praying for the best for them helps take our mind off of our own problems. I think Mr. Rogers had it right. We should live in one great big happy neighborhood! Pray on, my friend!
