Life of Love

When you were a child did you ever want to be like your father or mother? I was walking around my block one day and saw a father mowing his lawn as his little boy, who couldn’t have been more than 4 years old, was pushing a toy mower right beside him. If we had good parents growing up, it is very likely that we wanted to imitate them - to be like them. Similarly, the bible encourages us to be imitators of our heavenly Father. And one of the attributes that seems to be highlighted most is his love. Paul says in Ephesians chapter 5 verses 1 and 2:

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

There’s really no way that we can grab our spiritual toy mower and mow alongside God the Father, but we can imitate his character because it is clearly spelled out for us in the Bible. We’ve seen his love from the time he created us, all the way to when he sent Jesus to die for us, all the way to his promises of Jesus’ return and eternal life in heaven. His love for us is a common theme throughout the bible and so should our love for him and for others be a common theme throughout our lives. I’ve heard it said that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. So, I encourage you to be imitators of God, because when we are, we ultimately bring glory to him.

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If we are truly imitators of God we would live a life of love. Jesus showed us the ultimate form of love by dying for us. And when we learn that, we understand that our life is not our own because it was bought with a price. And as such, we should no longer live for ourselves, but we should live for God. We should live the life of love that he modeled for us. That might not mean that you’ll be dying for someone. Love that is pure can display itself in many ways, but all forms of Godly love have one thing in common… selflessness. So, I encourage you to allow the Holy Spirit to express himself through you in love towards others in a way that would compliment God’s love for us.

Good Shepherd

In our highly technological, hustle and bustle world of today, it can be difficult to relate to - or even understand - the culture of the times we read about in the bible. Jesus refers to himself as “the good shepherd”, but most of us have never held a job as a shepherd or have even lived on a farm. Wouldn’t it be cool if God would drop down an updated version of the bible that fits our current day understanding? Okay, maybe it wouldn’t. The bible is still perfect just as it is because even though I’ve never been a shepherd, I can clearly understand the sentiment behind the analogy. Jesus says in John chapter 10, verses 14 and 15:

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as my Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

The shepherd and sheep relationship is somewhat unique. Sheep are very dependent on the shepherd. They trust them even to the point of recognizing their voice. In much the same way, as our eyes are opened, we come to realize how dependent we are on Christ. He can do something for us that is impossible for us to do on our own, which is put us in right relationship with our creator. Jesus is described in other areas of the bible as a lamb because he willingly died for us like a sheep led to the slaughter. So, in effect, he is our shepherd, but also the lamb who was slain. Using analogies like these gives us a clear understanding of Jesus’ role in God’s plan, and I for one, am very thankful that he spelled out so clearly.

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One way that Jesus describes himself is as “the good shepherd”. If we truly follow Christ, he knows us and we know him. And if we know him, we should know how to please him, we should know what he desires, and we should know how he feels about us. He laid his life down for us, so that we might live. There is no greater love that he could’ve shown us. I encourage you to get to know Jesus. And if you already know him, to grow to know him more deeply and more intimately. After all, wouldn’t you like to know him as well as he knows the father?

Repent

I am so thankful for God’s word. We get to read about how other believers lived and how God related to them. We learn what they did wrong so that we can hopefully avoid it, and we learn what they did right so that we can hopefully emulate it. But they all have one thing in common. With the exception of Jesus, all of the people in the bible are only human - which is good because then we can relate to them. Daniel was a person in the old testament who at one point cried out to God on behalf of the Israelites. He knew that his people had strayed and that they needed to repent. So, he took it upon himself to pray to God in chapter 9 verses 4 through 5 which says:

"I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: 'O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.'”

This is only a portion of his prayer, but I think you get the idea. This prayer could be a template for our country. It might even be a good template for some of us who need to turn back to Christ. The point is that when we sin - whether it be individually, or as a nation, we need to be quick to repent. We need to pour our heart out to God and ask him to forgive us. Then, with the help of the Spirit, we need to make every effort to turn from our sinful behavior. If you don’t want to have any level of separation between you and God, you need to repent. There is no better feeling, spiritually speaking, than to be right before the Lord.

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Daniel cried out to God on behalf of his people. He confessed their sin and asked for forgiveness appealing on their behalf. If you feel so inclined, I encourage you to do the same for our country because God knows we need to repent. But if you need to do it on an individual level, I encourage you not to wait. Remove any barrier between you and God by asking him to forgive you of your sin. Come clean with him - he knows your sin anyway. When we humble ourselves before him, he can and will forgive us. He will cleanse us, and restore our right standing with him. So I encourage you, if you need to; confess, ask for forgiveness and repent.

Light of Life

Do you consider yourself a follower of Christ? I’m not asking if you believe in him. No, I’m asking whether you follow him, because there is a difference. By following him we make every effort to be like him - to take on his characteristics. We try to act like him, talk like him, pray like him and love like him. I don’t mean to imply that we are to try to be him, but we should want to aspire to be like him and to follow his words and commandments - kind of like his disciples did. And he tells us that if we truly follow him that we will have the light of life. It says in John chapter 8 verse 12:

"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'”

I encourage you to think through what it really means to follow Christ. His disciples were his followers. They listened to what he said and tried to be molded into that likeness. The good news is that we don’t have to do this on our own. The Holy Spirit is there to help us with the renewing of our minds. When we accept Jesus, we are automatically a new creation - we are “born again”. But to follow Christ is a daily effort. He says that we need to take up our cross daily and follow him. And if we do, we will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.

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Jesus tells us that he is the light of the world. He says that if we follow him we will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life. I don’t know about you, but that sounds good to me! I know I don’t want to walk in darkness. And if you don’t either, you need to follow Christ. Like his disciples, we need to hear what he says and obey. He gave us the bible to read, the ability to speak to him through prayer, and he left us the Holy Spirit which lives inside of every believer. We have the means to follow him. I encourage you to make every effort to be a follower of Christ because if you do, you will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

Unashamed

I remember when growing up how much I wanted to be like my older brother. I wanted to be like him so much that I’d listen to the same music he’d listen to, I’d try to act tough like him, and I always wanted to hang out with him and his friends. But for him, it wasn’t cool to be seen with me. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t like me, it’s just that he was embarrassed to be seen with me in public. Maybe you can relate. But even if we feel this way about our brothers and sisters here on earth, we need to be careful not to treat Jesus this way. We should never be ashamed of being associated with him. In Luke chapter 9, verse 26 Jesus says: 

“If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”

Even though it is becoming more and more unpopular to let people know that we are followers of Christ, we should never be ashamed. On the contrary, we should be honored to know the creator of the universe - the one who gave his life so that we may live in eternity with him. Unlike the little brother we don’t want to be seen with, we should look at him the way we look at someone we’re in love with. We should want to show him off to our friends because we are the lucky ones to be associated with him, not the other way around.

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We should never be ashamed to call ourselves Christians, to let others know that we love Jesus with all of our heart and that we want to be like him. We should never want to hide the fact that we are Christians even if there are negative consequences if we do. Jesus says that if we are ashamed of him and his words then he will be ashamed of us in heaven. I don’t believe any of us wants that. So I encourage you, let your light for him shine brightly. As the bible encourages, we should let our light shine on a hill for all to see. We shouldn’t hide it under a bowl.