If you've ever raised a child, taught a class, or coached a kid’s local ball team, you have probably uttered these words: “Don’t worry about what others are doing... I’ll take care of them...just worry about yourself!”

And if you have never spoken those words yourself, I’d be willing to bet you have heard them, at least.

There’s an incident we read about in Luke 9:51-56 where Jesus was about to enter a village in Samaria...but they were apparently unwilling to receive or hear Him (53). When James and John heard about this, they were irked, and asked Jesus: “Should we call fire from heaven down and consume them like Elijah did?”(54). Jesus’s response to them was quick,blunt, and a classic rebuke:

“You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives...He came to save them!” (56)

Teaching the multitudes early on in His earthly ministry, Jesus addressed some issues that hit close to home, given the occupation of the Roman Empire which oppressed the people of that day; and they were resented by the Jews terribly. If a soldier compelled a Jewish citizen to ‘go one mile’ (which meant carrying their heavy packs), Jesus told them to go two miles. (Matt. 5:41). He also touched on how to respond if you were ‘slapped on the cheek’...explaining in that passage there how we were to respond to an ‘evil person’. (38-48)

Yeah...you know which passage I’m talking about, the one where we are to ‘love our enemies, bless those who curse us, do good to those who hate us...SO THAT...we may be sons of our Father in heaven...”. I mean, He did tell us we were to “be perfect just as our Father in heaven is perfect’ (48), did He not?

And for those who stuck around to hear more that day, they heard Jesus teach about not judging others. He even used, in a matter of speaking, that same phrase I mentioned at the start here, when it came to looking at a speck in your brother’s eye when we had a plank in our own eye. “Don’t worry about them...worry about yourself!” (Matt. 7:1-5)

Now take a look at Romans 12:14-21. It seems that Paul was familiar with these teachings of Jesus because he basically reminds us of the very same lesson about ‘repaying evil for evil’ (14,17). It’s not that God is not concerned with evil and those who do evil, let alone those who are harmed and hurt by evil words and actions, but what is the counsel given to us in vs. 19? “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath....”. In other words, he’s reminding us that God...will ‘take care of them’. Nothing escapes His eye. That is why we are told to ‘pray for, love, and do good...to those who have done just the opposite to us’.

How are people going to identify who the true...disciples of Jesus are? By their love for one another as we are commanded to ‘love others as Christ loved us’? (John 13:34-35).

Anyone remember the words of prayer Jesus uttered for those who were nailing Him to a cross? “Father...forgive them...they don’t know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)

So what exactly did Jesus know, that many of us seemingly are ignorant of? Let me tell you: God set a law in place; and He enforces those laws in ways we have been ‘blinded’ to. That was the purpose of the law to begin with. He did not set a law in place to make us ‘righteous’; on the contrary...the law was meant to deal with those who chose to continue to rebel against Him (1 Tim. 1:8-10). Yeah, go read that passage and make sure it is marked in your Bible.

When God first introduced Himself to Abram, wanting to establish a covenant with Him and bless him...it began with an invitation to ‘come out...and follow Me’ (Gen. 12:1-4). It would be 400 years later when God would even set a law in place, and He did so because of sin and transgressions (Gal. 3:17,19)

Surely you know what the purpose of laws are for in any society or civilization is, yes? It’s to keep people from harming and destroying themselves... and others. Whether we are talking about criminal, civil, or even traffic laws...they’re designed to ‘keep law and order’. Following and/or obeying laws don’t ‘make us good citizens’; but ‘good citizens’ will keep and obey those laws. (1 John 2:3-6,29)

Did you catch that last line?

No doubt, we’ve all seen parents who may have issued lots of 'empty' warnings to their kids that they never followed through with by enforcing those rules, which can often lead to raising unruly and rebellious children. I trust you know what I’m talking about here. And yes, we live in a corrupt world where it seems our justice system can be at times, unfair and inconsistent. But this, I can assure you:...

...Nothing escapes God’s attention, especially when it has to do with His kingdom. If Jesus says: “Go and sin no more...lest something worse happens to you...” (John 5:14), you can be sure of this: He meant what He said. “Be not deceived...my brethren...” (Gal. 6:7-8; Eph. 5:6; Rom. 1:18; Acts 3:22-23). So just how...does God ‘enforce’ His laws? Take a look at 1 John 5:18 and 1 Cor. 5:5.

I also don’t think we have spent enough time giving serious thought to what Jesus shared in Luke 13:1-5, regarding what happens to people who sin, and it’s not...because they are ‘worse sinners than anyone else’. But unless we repent...we will all...likewise...perish.

And what leads us to...’repentance’? Take a look at Romans 2:4-9...then meet me back here tomorrow.