Wherever (Fill in a credit card) is accepted

Hear this much this time of year?  “Look for where VISA is accepted”.

Romans 15:7 “Accept one another then, as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”

If you use Blueletterbible.org to look up words, you can do  word studies with the click of a mouse. The word for accept in Greek is “Proslambono.”  Aren’t you impressed?

It has 3 levels of meaning.

First level means to receive one another as a blessing or gift.  Do you see others as burdens or blessings? Trials or treasures?

The second level  is to receive someone into your circle of family or friends.  One of the most accepting and intimate acts you can do is to have someone share a family meal with. To invite them into your home is like inviting them into your heart.

That bring us to the deepest level of meaning , “to grant access to one’s own heart”. This is the trauma of transparency. We build walls to protect our hearts at a young age.  By the time we reach adulthood we have walls, gun turrets, a moat with a drawbridge to keep others out.  We go to church and peer at one another from the safety of our castle windows.  We don’t dare get real or open up.  It could be painful or embarrassing to admit we are needy.

Yet, don’t we teach children from the earliest years Jesus wants to live in their hearts? So, if we are open to others, they should find Jesus there.  He is wants to use us to love them…care for them…accept them.

So next time you see a sign or hear a commercial about charge cards being “accepted”, ask God to open you to be accepting of others.

It is a gift where you get more back than you give.