Steve

I have a neighbor about my own age named Steve.  This guy should give seminars on the topic of "How To Be A Good Neighbor."  His ability to be such a great neighbor hinges on his relationship with Jesus Christ.  For Steve, these two entities go together.  How do I know this?  He tells me.  He talks about Jesus all the time.  Steve will snowblow the walkways of six or seven houses on our street when we get more than a couple inches of snow.  He always waves, always smiles, and is always willing to help out.  Steve is a glass cutter by trade, and showed up at my door last week with ten beautiful glass crosses, about 8" by 12" in size, that can be hung on the wall.  He said I could pass them out to those people I know who are currently going through cancer.  Steve is a cancer survivor and his wife is currently having some health issues too, but he is also keeping watch over me and Connie as we battle our issues.
   I mention this today for a couple of reasons.  So far I have given away four of those crosses to people who have experienced cancer in some form or another.  For those of us who have experienced this kind of hardship, we understand that all of life after cancer must be viewed through the cross, that only because of the love of Jesus can we continue living.  The glass cross is a powerful reminder to me of this truth and the importance of life.
   But I also mention this because what Steve does is not hard.  The "salt and light" of Christianity should begin right in one's own neighborhood.  The kindnesses we can show others should not be about putting ourselves in the spotlight but rather about putting the love of Jesus on display for them.  Steve does this in obvious ways.  I think I need to be more obvious in our neighborhood too.  I don't want Kevin, Brandi, Don, Shelley, Dave, Marcia, James, or any of my other neighbors to miss seeing Jesus in my interactions with them.  Neither do I want them to think of me as a great guy when I help out without knowing where the source of that goodness is.  I need to find new ways to point my neighbors to Jesus.  I need to see each of them through the lens of the cross and help them to see life that way too.
   Thanks for the neighborly reminder, Steve.