‘Everywhere He went, He was doing good!’
We know this, and we love this, as a reminder that He was, and is still doing good, we sing and regularly recall this. But what does this mean for us today?
I, like a lot of us in the Faith, oftentimes find myself wrestling with piecing together the ‘what’ of it all. To every event of life really, not just your specific calling or purpose, there is a ‘why’ and a ‘what’ (The ‘how’ is derived from these two, and comes from the voice of the Spirit). Our ‘why’, on a general level, is relatively clear to all of us: To please God. But sometimes, when we don’t stay in constant touch of His Person, we lose sight of what that really looks like in our daily lives.
I for one certainly have previously, on more than one occasion. The practical concretion of what the ‘what’ looks like for a given individual will certainly vary from person to person, but there is a formula that isn’t even really a formula; it’s more of a constant. A ‘north-star’ if you will, that is to guide and inform our life’s journeys every step of the way – Compassion.
Take the Lord Jesus for example (the ultimate example); it was repeatedly stated as a common theme in all His actions, that compassion was (and is) the driving force behind his decisions (Mark 6:34 among numerous other instances). Whether it be a decree, whether it be a miraculous intervention, Jesus did good, not just for goodness’s sake, but out of the compassion of His heart.
So I ask myself, as we all should, ‘This thing that I want to do – this step I want to take, be it in my occupation, business, academics etc. – who is it serving?’. Remember that when Jesus healed, a lot of the time, especially early on in His ministry, He charged them that they tell nobody of it. Yes, this may have had some certain tactical backing for it (to make sure the Romans didn’t come after him prematurely), but I’d be hard pressed to believe a big part of that wasn’t to make sure the glory doesn’t go to Him as a ‘man’, but to Him as the Lord. He did and does those things which please the Father, which is why the Father always answered. And what pleases the Father? Check out John 15: 12, 13. This love informed Jesus every decision, which were his instructions to Him, and His instruction to us.
To that end, let’s continually look unto Jesus for guidance on our ‘what’. Hebrews 12:2 is another succinctly worded statement of Jesus’ intent, and even without mentioning compassion, the message is clear – Love is the ‘what’!