Here is my to-do list for today.
Not that it is bound and handed to me as a hard and fast set of rules.
It is what the Father expects from me.
Being a follower of His Son, Jesus, I simply want to please Him.
Romans 12
V.9 - Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.
Now let's be honest here. Isn't learning to love as God loves the real stickler here in this life? I teach on this a lot. I've even gone as far as to say that the church should abandon everything until it learns to love as God loves. It's hard! Oh, I can love those folks that are nice to me....people who might speak highly of me....family...and the ones that I choose to love. But it's those other folk's. You know the one's I'm talking about. Those who don't agree with what you say or what you believe. They talk bad about you. They have even criticized you to other's, but to your face, sugar wouldn't melt in their mouth. You'd never use the "E" word when you speak of them. Oh yeah, the "E" word is enemy. No matter how hard I try, i can't get around the fact that Jesus told me to love my enemies and pray for those who persecute me.
My love has to be pure and from the Father. No hypocrisy here. Wasn't that always our big excuse in the past, for not going to church? Why they're just a bunch of hypocrites. What do you know! Paul recognized that fact when he wrote Romans. Why else would he have said that our love is to be without hypocrisy.
Abhor...there's a word you don't see much any more. But this word is tied to the word evil. Dictionary says that abhor means to detest, despise,loathe, to shrink back from. I think it means to have nothing to do with evil. That brings me to a question. What level of evil. I mean, after all, there are different levels and types of evil, isn't there? Who gets to define or identify what the evil is that I am suppose to hate? Well, that would be God. He is the great definer. I am to stay away from evil of any sorts.....and I am to cling to what is good. Here again...God gets to define for us what is "good". Run from one...cling to...lay hold of....rely on....that which is good.
V.10 - Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.
Here old Paul is giving us the skinny on how the inner workings of church should be. If I am a part of a community of believer's, then I am to put everyone else above my own personal needs. I am called to let love rule every relationship I have. I am to esteem the needs of others over my own. Boy, I tell you what...if that don't make your old flesh rise up and scream.."Well what about me? When do I get esteemed and honored and all those other things!" then I don't know what will. The funny part about being selfish is that you can't really see and understand this verse. Let's say there are 20 in your circle of friends at church. I'm called to love, honor and look out for 19 other folks. But at the same time, while I'm moving in this call to love them....I've got 19 other folks looking out for me so that I don't have to concentrate on my own selfish needs, wants and desires. I can rest in the divine knowledge and understanding that I am truly a part of something larger than me. I think maybe this is the way the church is suppose to operate.
Well, there you go.
There's my to-do list for today.
I think maybe I'll come back tomorrow and share more of this list, if that's o.k. .
God on you...
mb
No comments:
Post a Comment