I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Friday, the 8th of September, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Book of James 2:1-4: 

“My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?”

There are no favourites in the Kingdom of God. I don’t know if you remember that book, “In His Steps”? It was written in 1896. It has sold more than fifty million copies. It’s a fictitious story, written by Charles Sheldon. The story goes like this - there was a very up-tempo church with plush carpets, beautiful pews, and a lovely pulpit. It was a very posh church. All the congregation are seated on Sunday morning, and in staggers a poor man in rags. He walks right down the middle of the aisle, right to the front of the church, and he stands there in front of the pulpit and says he is out of work, he needs help, and then he collapses, and a few days later, he dies. 

The congregation was shocked and the pastor, Henry Maxwell, didn’t know what to do either. They all just stood there in amazement, looking at this poor man, lying on the carpet in rags. After that event, that pastor had many sleepless nights, and he came back to his congregation and said to them, “We are going to ask ourselves a question, “What would Jesus do?” And from that, there was a complete change in that congregation and that church. People started to roll up their sleeves and get into the reality of life. 

God has no favourites. God loves you, Sir. He loves you, Madam, little boy, little girl, just as you are. He doesn’t love one more than the other. He died for all men. He said, 

“Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Romans 10:13. 

Have a wonderful day today as you go out and love your fellowman as yourself because God loves him as much as He loves you.

Jesus bless you and goodbye.