Loving Lakeside
“Seek the peace and prosperity of the city
to which I have carried you into exile.
Pray to the Lord for it,
because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
Jeremiah 29:7
During the days of Babylonian exile, the people of Israel had been taken by force to live in Babylon. This was a difficult time for the people of God as they lived in a society that didn’t believe in their God nor in the ways of God.
The people of Israel could have resisted their Babylonian captors. They could have tried to overthrow the leaders of Babylon or they could have totally separated themselves from the Babylonians, seeking to be free from the corrupt lives of the people in Babylon. But God had a different plan. He wanted the people of Israel to serve their neighbors and to pray for the city. He wanted the people of Babylon to prosper and to be a great place to live because of the Israelite captives. “If Babylon prospers then you too will prosper.”
This type of serving God’s way applies also to us in Lakeside. We may live in a world that seems un-Godly. We may feel like our neighbor’s lives are far away from God, but the way that we can influence them, the way that we can help them “prosper,” is by loving and serving them.
What if we as the people of God lived in such a way that if we were gone, it would be hard to imagine Lakeside without us? What if we were kind, if we served our neighbors, if we cared for our neighbors? What would happen if we put this into practice in our everyday lives? If we did these things, we would have influence upon our neighbors. It would be a welcomed influence and when our neighbors ask why we do these acts of kindness, we point them to Jesus. When we do these acts of serving others, not expecting anything in return, we do so because of our relationship with Jesus and because this was His way. His ultimate act of serving others was to die on a cross for us. Our response to this great act of love is to provide small acts of kindness to those undeserving. We love Lakeside so that Lakeside will thrive! Our desire is to see Lakeside be a vibrant and flourishing place where people’s needs are met and God’s love shines.