Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Romans 12:15, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”

Background

In the 1967 movie, Cool Hand Luke, Paul Newman plays Lucas Jackson, a loner of sorts who ends up serving time in a prison work camp. Unable to conform to the oppressive nature of his imprisonment, Luke makes several attempts at escape. After being captured and returned to the camp one particular time, the Captain is determined to get Luke’s mind right. So Luke is made to dig a ditch that resembles one used for a coffin. But once he is done, the “boss” makes him get the dirt off his yard and back in the hole. Several times this torture of digging and refilling goes on, with the final round punctuated with a whip across the head from the guard. Finally, Luke begs for mercy and convinces the Captain his mind is right. After he comes out of the ditch, and they drop him on the floor of the barracks, Luke lies there and reaches out for one of his fellow prisoners to help him up. But each man has turned away, ashamed of the one man they had lived through as he rebelled and held onto his individuality and sense of freedom. The one who couldn’t be broken was just that, and they couldn’t stand it, or themselves. And lying there, with his unmet hand outstretched, Luke hollers out, “Where are you now?!” The only time he needed them, they had nothing for him. So they left him on the floor, to manage his broken spirit and beaten body on his own.

Application

I am not a naturally compassionate person, and over the years I have strove to control my emotions and expectations, mainly, I think, to minimize the pain of disappointment. But that has damaged my ability to weep with those who weep. When my wife is hurting over something I don’t quite understand, something I consider trivial or irrelevant, my natural response is to dismiss rather than embrace. The very time she needs me, I’m facing another way. And realizing that makes me ashamed. Loving her conditionally makes me ashamed. But it’s made me very good at digging ditches. But I’m tired of digging. And if you are, too, then repent and rejoice with me that our God can make all things new.

Charge

As we seek Him today, look closely into your responses and reactions. Ask God to cleanse you from being calloused or insensitive, and be the one to carry someone from weeping to rejoicing.

Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words