Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7 NIV
John is known as the Beloved, the one very close to the heart of the Master. He it was that Jesus handed over his mum too at the cross, so he fully understood responsibility and accountability. This letter too is not written to a particular congregation or church, but to people John calls friends. For you to be my good friend, there must be a few things we share in common, beyond what the eyes can see. Friendship takes time and effort, but its benefits are worth the investment. So, as I read today's extract, I must keep at the back of my mind that I am called to be friends with Jesus. He will not force himself on me, but if I choose to respond to his offer of friendship, I must be sure He will make demands of me.
The common thread that binds us together is stronger than whatever it is that seeks to divide us. That common thread is Jesus; by and in him do I have all that I need for life and Godliness. I am a friend to all who share the same faith in Jesus as I have. As a friend of Jesus and other people like me, I cannot live by different standards. I cannot claim to know and love God and not love the way God does. It is a mismatch and an aberration for a person who loves God to hate any part of the same God's creation, except the devil. I can claim anything I want, but the fruit of my life will show where I stand. Am I a true friend of God, and others made in his likeness, or am I a pretender and a hypocrite?
This love is God's identity and nature. We call him love because there is really no other way to describe him. It is his love that allows us express ourselves. It is his love in us that makes us capable of even loving other people. If I am not in him, how can my love produce anything that looks like him? Well, the world will always seek to give us alternatives to love, confusing us the more we seek to know ourselves. Only in God can I find my real self; only by God's love can I love myself and other people. It is not the cheap alternatives like lust, obsession or infatuation the devil tries to sell off as love; it is the right version, from God's heart to mine, changing me on the inside and then touching lives on the outside. That is love. Is that what I have? It's not too late to seek the right version. God is love. When I have him, I have all O need. If I don't have him, it really does not matter what else I have. God's time of favour is here.
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