Thou Shalt Love

Larry Walker
02/16/16 - Christian Focus

THOU SHALT LOVE!

 

I hope that from our study together in I John you have come to a greater appreciation of this commandment, expressed so often in both Old and New Testaments.  There is no more fundamental command in all of the Scriptures – and perhaps none more neglected – than this, Mt. 22:34-40, Gal. 5:14.   To love God and to love our fellow men sums up, from one perspective, our basic calling.  However, this has come to mean very little to the average person.  It is like a proverb, a snippet we remember… then forget.

 

He is not saying:

Thou shalt feel warm and kindly to everyone

Thou shalt be nice

Thou shalt like everyone

Thou shalt be decent

Thou shalt be kind

Thou shalt be easy-going and “laid back”

Thou shalt be courteous

Thou shalt be friendly…

 

It might be instructive to paraphrase this instruction from God, so that we might think freshly and more deeply about it:

            Thou shalt BE INCONVENIENCED for the sake of your higher calling

Thou shalt GIVE – of thy time, thy money, thy possessions for God and others

            Thou shalt HUMBLE THYSELF down low and keep thyself there

            Thou shalt WEEP when your fellow Christians struggle

            Thou shalt WORK for their blessing

            Thou shalt GET DIRTY if need be to help them out of the mud

            Thou shalt PRAY for them until your knees are sore

Thou shalt IGNORE hobbies, good times, football, hunting, shopping, TV, and other indulgences for the spiritual needs of others

Thou shalt SURRENDER thyself to the kingdom of God

            Thou shalt SACRIFICE your wants and desires to others

            Thou shalt TAKE WRONG and keep your heart thankful before God

            Thou shalt do all this GLADLY, rejoicing AS UNTO THE LORD.

 

Oh, and one more thing:  Thou shalt BLEED, and even DIE if need be, for your brother or sister!  YES!

 

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father… he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations...” Eph. 3:14-21, ESV