Saturday, September 06, 2008

Warm Fuzzies

"Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." John 14:23

This verse gave me a nice warm feeling this morning. Read it a few times and let it really sink in what it's saying to you. It's telling me that life is actually quite simple. The first thing that Jesus says is that if anyone loves him, they will obey his teaching. What has Jesus taught us? Well, he's taught us so much through his parables and his life, but specifically, there is this:

"On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

27He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." Luke 10:25-28

Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself. It's all about love. If we profess to love Jesus, then we need to follow these rules- the greatest commandments given. It is true when you hear songs that say "all you need is love" or "love makes the world go 'round" or "love lift us up". Love is the key. And please note, this is not romantic love at all, this is the love that causes us to hold a door for someone, or check up on a neighbor. This is the love that drags us out of bed early on a Saturday morning to help a friend put siding on their house. And we need to look at the unlovable in our life and ask God to help us love even them. We need to ask God to love them for us, and to help us to show that love that he has for all man-kind.

The warm fuzzies I was talking about though come from the next part of the verse above. If we follow the commandments that Jesus shared with us, God will love us and God and Jesus will come to us and make their home with us. Our home will be their home. Man! Just think about that. Think about waking up every morning in the presence of God, or going to bed at night, knowing that you are going to get a great night of sleep, and that God will speak to you in your dreams. Think about having someone just walk into your home and feel a sense of peace that only comes from God. That is what we want more than anything. We want our home to be a haven for people- whether it be young people or grown adults, and whether it be an apartment or a grand estate. All of that comes full circle right back to the beginning of the verse, with love. If we love, unconditionally, eventually we will see more opportunities to share that love.

And I love that thought. I want to share these warm fuzzies with everyone I come in contact with. God is love, and to be a vessel of that love... well, what could be better than that?

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