________ Love .... by Morag Cameron Today on my Instagram feed I saw an advert for bags, t-shirts and mugs with the saying ‘Love God and Love People’. We read how to live out this saying in the passages in Matthew 22:34-40 and Mark 12:28-34. First, putting the verses in context as in Matthew 22:15, the Pharisees wanted to “entrap Jesus with his own words.” They thought they could accomplish this through the question, “What is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus’ answer was clear and simple replying the first and greatest command is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. He said the second is like it, to love your neighbour as yourself. So - Love God and love people. It is easy to wear a t-shirt that says, “Love God and Love People,” but to live those two things out is anything but easy. God is calling us to something that we cannot do in our own strength. We need Him to help us to do these things. To love Him with all your heart, soul and mind takes daily coming before God and asking Him to help us love Him in these ways. It means that our heart is not divided and we worship God alone. To love Him with all our soul means finding satisfaction in Him. It’s knowing that other things cannot fill us know matter how much they claim to do so and we have our mind set on Him and on doing what He tells us to do. It can be easy to read this and think that it is a to-do list but in order to truly love God with all of our being, we need the Lord to empower us. |
Jonah ran away from obeying God because he knew God would be merciful to the Ninevites if they repented from their evil ways, which they did. Jonah tried to usurp the merciful plans of Almighty God because he thought he knew better. Perhaps we run from God because we are selfish. We want to live our way, not God’s way. Jonah wanted God to destroy Nineveh, but God wanted to save Nineveh through Jonah. God’s plans always prevail. Though God still used Jonah to save the Ninevites, Jonah missed out on experiencing the full joy of wholeheartedly surrendering to God. The truth is that God will get His way with or without us, but He invites us into the holy work that He is continually doing. He does so in order that we can better understand His heart and character. Jonah was so focused on the judgement of the Ninevites that he completely missed the awe and wonder of God’s grace. Jonah was even irritated at the grace and compassion of God. Many of us have heard the phrase “Hurt people, hurt people.” On the flip side there are phrases that state “Forgiven people, forgive people” and “Loved people, love people.” It seems as if Jonah was so stuck in anger and hatred that he forgot that he, too, was just as guilty before God and needed forgiveness just as much as the Ninevites. He traded selfless love for self-righteousness.Self-righteousness disparages the unfathomable grace of God but God gives grace to the humble. We have a choice. We can either run from the will of God, begrudgingly obey the will of God, or wholeheartedly trust and obey the perfect will of God. Our entire future will be determined by the choice we make. Hymn Bing Videos Prayer Loving God, we surrender every area of our mind, will and emotions to You. May we choose to dwell in Your goodness and faithfulness so the good seeds You’ve planted in our lives will take root. Keep us close to You and direct our steps down the path You have prepared for us so we walk in complete confidence knowing You are with us through all things. Amen. |
