I CAN THINK OF NO OTHER LOVE … that I would rather pursue than
the love of my Lord Jesus Christ! And I
can think of no other love I would rather rest in and be assured of ~ than that
of my precious Savior and Friend! The
media these past few weeks is blitzing ads like crazy … deluging us with
visions of diamonds, roses, chocolates, and more – in preparation for
Valentine’s Day! “Ladies, when you
receive one of these, you will know you are loved!” At least that is what the marketing
implies. They forget – it takes more
than any of those things to make us feel truly, genuinely, unconditionally
loved! That’s because: things are only things. We could be swimming in an ocean of
chocolate, wearing a diamond-dazzled swimsuit, clutching the most beautiful
long-stemmed roses between our teeth … and still drown in our sorrows and
loneliness and self-pity. So, what does
that little visual tell us? Only that
there is obviously more to real love than even limitless quantities of the
things we think we love so much. My
heart has never cried so much for the pain of others as it has recently. I hear the cynicism and bitterness in
voices. I sense the “giving up” mode
coming into play. I feel the struggles
vented via people’s posts in social media.
I would totally understand if this vocal behavior was coming from the
crowd who doesn’t know Christ personally.
But when I witness the noticeable change in the attitudes and demeanors
of those who have long said they were part of God’s family – even to the point
of nearly questioning God Himself and the words He has given to us … that’s a
sad, rude awakening! It’s easy to blame
any of us humans for exhibiting a less godly love than we should; but for
someone to actually state that God sits on high looking down on us and our
struggles and pain for mere entertainment … that makes me shiver and
shudder. How do we get from loving God
to a statement like that? What brings
about such disillusionment? The more I
ponder and pray over these things, it seems that when we get so caught up in
our own agenda instead of opening our hearts to allow God to move and work as
He wills on this earth for His Kingdom purposes, we sabotage all that He has
for us. Now wait … please don’t bristle
up in your spirit at me. What you need
to know is that before I can put any words that God gives me on paper, He takes
me through the practice run – sometimes over and over until I can confront the
issue and deal with it. Not practicing
what a person preaches makes the message a useless, noisy, clanging cymbal that
no one wants to hear, much less listen to.
And something is usually missing from the overall picture: a little four-letter word called “love”. Yes.
It’s a very small word, but in God’s Word in the love chapter of I
Corinthians 13, the author Paul explains that exercising love when using our
spiritual gifts is “the most excellent way”.
We can do all kinds of things, say all kinds of things … but if we do
not have love or show love … we are nothing.
That’s stating it quite strongly, I’d say. All pretenses are spared in that
teaching. We can attempt to love the way
we should, and if we are seriously committed to loving like Jesus loves, He
will definitely help us in our quest.
But we’ll never get it right every time – because we are not God. And we are not perfect, as much as we’d like
to think we are sometimes! Love is not
always easy … and sometimes true love rattles the cages of others! We define love like we think it should
be. Yet the love Jesus frequently
demonstrated to others while He walked this earth seemed quite radical – and
even shocking to those who observed.
They shook their heads at who He hung out with or whose house He went to
eat dinner at. But Jesus’ example of
love purely and totally outshines our best efforts at love. All the time!
He doesn’t demand perfection from us before He’ll love us; He only asks
for our repentance. He doesn’t want a
forced love from us; He invites a set-free love that causes us to automatically
run in His direction just because we want
to be with Him! In my hand-written
side-notes in my Bible, these words jump out at me once again: “Jesus' love is extravagant in its
expressions!” Wow! Wouldn’t we like to have the love in ALL of
our relationships be exactly THAT: extravagant! Meaning:
a love that exceeds the limit of reason or necessity; beyond what is
reasonable. Someone has said (which I
also noted in my Bible!) that “Jesus’
love is the grand essential in the drama of our lives!” And taking a hard look at our lives in this
age we are living in, proves that there’s LOTS of drama going on – either in
our own lives – or all around us. So
while drama may be more the norm than not these days, there needs to be one
thing that is included. So let me say
that one more time: “Jesus’ love is the grand
essential in the drama of our lives!” Both
Calvary and the Empty Tomb exhibit that extravagant love, and with that example
to follow, we cannot, and must not miss the mark when it comes to loving each
other. There is no more excellent way to
love!
REMEMBER . .
.
“For as high
as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is
His love for those who fear Him.”
~ Psalm
103:11
(That’s
pretty great!)
Serving Christ Joyfully . . .
Pastor Doug and Debbie
