Winter Storm Fern

More than a dozen states made emergency declarations as Winter Storm Fern pummeled a huge portion of the United States over the weekend. A significant snowstorm was followed by sleet, freezing rain, and frigid temperatures, causing hundreds of thousands to be without power. More than half the U.S. population was impacted by the storm, and many areas remain under freezing temperatures, school closures, and limited mobility.

Analysis and eternal perspective: Check on your neighbors. It is a common refrain during a storm event like this one, and certainly good advice. It is also a biblical imperative.

Jesus, when asked which commandment was the greatest, replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mk. 12:30). But Jesus didn’t stop there. He volunteered a second commandment to go hand-in-hand with the first: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mk. 12:31).

We talk a lot about this as The Equipped community, but if our hearts are inclined toward God, they are going to be inclined toward our neighbors as well! So if you, like we, are still in the clutches of the ice and snow, lift your eyes and check on your neighbors. In doing so, you will be heeding the two greatest commandments.