The Eternal!

The Eternal!

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV

The Context:

In order to fully understand today's extract, it will be good to look at the chapter before. It lists all the gifts of the Spirit, highlighting how all of them work together to glorify God and to bless man. However, it has to be noted how that chapter ends; the very last sentence reads: And yet I will show you the most excellent way. There is a place for gifts, but there is something about the heart with which the gifts are used. 

We can place emphasis on the workings of the Spirit in the lives of men, but what about how the Spirit impacts the hearts of men so that the offerings of their lives are acceptable to God? What if I can heal the sick, raise the dead and speak in unknown tongues, yet I have forsaken my first love? This is the danger of Matthew 7: 21-23, where I am told that not all who call Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven. I can do all the right things, yet my life will not be pleasing to God because I have left out the most important part of my life, which is the nature of God- love. That is the summary of the entire chapter from which today's extract is taken. 

The Message and Response:

I read the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 13, and I see God's standard laid out so succinctly. There is no room for hypocrisy; what love is has been made plain. You either have it or you don't; you can't fake it, and you can't force it out of anyone who does not have it. I must take careful stock of my life today, with the help of the Truth, who does not lie, so that I can know where I truly stand and where I need to make amends. 

In that light, we consider then today's extract. These three things run through our entire Christian experience. We come to God and walk with him by faith, and we walk and work with and for him in the expectation of receiving the eternal reward promised for all who endure to the end. So we see both faith and hope. And of course, we see love, God's very nature, also part of the tripod on which our lives are set. These three are important, but love is the greatest. How does that work? 

What is it about love that makes it special? Could it be it is because it is the only one with which God's nature is described? We don't attribute faith and hope to God; that is man's perogative. I am the one required to believe God, and to hold on to him for that which is ahead, as he has promised. But no matter what my reaction or response to God is, I have his love. Even to my dying day, his love will not let go until it is truly late. That is the one attribute that God first shows me, before I am empowered to show it to other people. It also means that I can have faith; I can even have hope, but I will not go very far without love. 

As I strive for excellence in life and ministry, what do I consider as priorities: the things that men can see, or the nature of God in me? What do I spend time on: what makes me special or what shows God off in my life? Not saying faith and hope are not important, but they will be of no eternal consequence when heaven beckons. Think about this: faith and hope only keep me focused on the eternal, and as soon as eternity is here, faith and hope expire. But for all of eternity, love remains relevant, because it is the nature of God. Therefore, I must get my pursuits and priorities right; I cannot rely on what is popular by men; seeking to please men who cannot guarantee me life, and then ignore that which secures eternal life for me. Have I secured that which can secure eternal life for me? His time of favour is here.