If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples. John 13:35 GNT
Let it be quickly established that the birth of Jesus gave birth to a new world order. Most of the rules, laws and ordinances that were established by God through Moses for the children of Israel found life, expression and fulfilment in Christ. It then means that if my life still reflects the old ways of doing things, then maybe I have not yet experienced the life that Jesus promises and gives. If I am still holding on tightly to all that the old nature upholds, I need to know that it will not end well, and it will not give me that which God promises for all who come to Him.
It is not a wonder then that Jesus takes time here to lay down a new command. He had accepted the will of His Father to die for the sins of the whole world. The rules of engagement under the law, whereby the blood of bulls and goats made atonement for sin, could no longer hold. It was time for the new to be established. His surrender of His life already sealed my hope, but then, what is expected of me, if truly I know the value of what I have received? How do I make proof of the life that lives in me?
The response is LOVE, not the type that moves celebrate, but the type God Himself laid down through His Son Jesus. This is a love that did not seek reciprocity, looking for what to gain first before offering itself. He simply gave Himself, in the hope that when I consider what I have received, I can surrender my all to Him. It is a love that went beyond the ordinary and the usual, doing what mortal man could not understand, but has now become the key to all that man could ever become in God.
It is the visible proof of the invisible life in me. It is the outflow of the inner presence of God in me. It is that tangible evidence that there is a power in me that helps me live right, and gives me grace to be all that God wants me to be. He gave his life so that I could live His kind of life. If I am still promoting self and my own selfish interests, how can I claim that I have the life of God in me? The proof of discipleship is in the fruit that is evident. If men can't see, feel, hear or smell it, then maybe it was never there in the first place. It is a love without boundaries, one without respect to race, colour, creed or language. As I take stock today, can I say that this is the version of love I have? If it is not, I must go to the One who has it, accept Him as my Lord and Saviour, so I can get all He is, and then be able to live out all He is. His time of favour is here.
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