“Practice these things, devote yourself to them, so
that all may see your progress.
Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you
will save both yourself and your hearers.”
Do you and I need to practice and devote ourselves to being
followers of Christ Jesus, and His instruction in the Bible? The simple answer is yes; the logical
answer is yes, and the Biblical is yes, if you want to be light in this present
darkness. It seems simple, all we need is a set of
rules to live life by and then we will be good Christians, it is that simple,
or is it? The only problem with
that is we have been given a book on how to live life on planet earth, and it
seems like many of us do not practice, do not devote ourselves to the most
basic teaching. Teaching like, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love
your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39)
How do you practice loving God with all your heart, with all
your soul, and all your mind? Anyone
that is able to do that commandment will have little or no problem loving his
neighbor. Could our problem be
that we have moved on to the more complex practices before learning to practice
and devotion to loving God with all our hearts and with all our soul and with
all our minds?
How in this crazy fallen world could we hope to love our
enemies as Christ Jesus has commanded in Matthew 5:44, if we have not first
learned to love Christ Jesus and the Father? So why do we skip over what Jesus calls the greatest commandments,
is it that we do not know how to love in the way Jesus has told us? We may be getting close to solving the
problem, in that Jesus told His disciples the following; “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John
14:15) So it comes down to this;
we either do not understand how to love as commanded, or we are living in
rebellion.
Could it be that we do not understand the relationship that
is ours in Christ; “The one who has my commands
and keeps them, is the one who loves Me.
And the one who loves Me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal
Myself to him.” (John 14:21) And if your answer is yes, I truly understand that
relationship, and yet after searching your heart it becomes clear that others
like your husband or wife, children or friends, or even yourself are more
intimate than your fellowship with the Lord, then have you not misunderstood
John 14:21?
As a seeker, it seems often you and I want to advance, that
is the nature of our culture, and it is rare to not look ahead for the next
promotion, the next project, the next relationship. Listen to what Jesus ask the Father before leaving earth; “I do not ask for these only, (referring
to his disciples) but also (add
your name) for those who will believe in me
through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father are in me,
and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe
that you have sent me. The glory
that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as weare
one, I in them, and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the
world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (John
17:20-23) Could the answer be that
our flesh has a desire to advance, to skip over the important and try to do
some act for God?
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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