Monday, September 3, 2012

And the Greatest is Love!


Luke 10:25-37

So today I am going to do my best to get back on track with my daily Bible reading and blogging, but you all know how I am, I can be off track before you know it.  Funny how we look at it as being off track, but God looks at it as keeping us on the right track! 

So what is the greatest commandment?  It is funny to me how all these ‘high up’ people were always trying to trick Jesus by asking him questions, and yet he always, always turns them around into a lesson that they could neither question nor deny the truth of.  It seems that everything goes back to love and if we love Jesus Christ first and foremost than we should have no trouble loving our neighbors, should we?  Or should I say do we?  Do we have trouble truly loving everyone?  So I know this is hard to believe, but I do have trouble with this.  Even though I know that when I love Jesus with everything that I have in me then I should love everyone else automatically.  Right?   I do want to love like Jesus and I can honestly say there is not one person in this world that I would not try to help if they were in need, but I want to love everyday like Jesus.  Not because I want to be that good, but because I know that when I truly love like Jesus did then people will see Him in me and not me---and that could make the difference in someone’s eternity.  I know that Jesus’ heart must ache each time we don’t show love toward one another, after all, he created us in love and to love.

Through my brother’s sickness my eyes have been opened to things that I never really thought of before.  While he was in the critical care unit, I began to look around at the desperation of the families in the waiting room, including us.  We were all at a point where nothing else mattered except the love that we had for our families and our Savior.  The little things that may have bothered us before never even crossed our minds now, we were desperate for our Father Jesus Christ.  We were calling on Him to please take care of the situation.  We knew we were at a point where there was no other way.  You see I have always known that Jesus is the only way and that he should always be at the forefront of everything in my life, but like so many of us, I would get busy and not focus on Him completely.  And then came this moment where nothing else mattered except reaching my Savior.  This is how it should be at all times; we should be so desperate for Jesus and his love that nothing else is worth anything without it.  For the last few weeks we have been in several different places with my brother, icu waiting rooms, ccu waiting rooms, nicu waiting room, and now a rehab/nursing center.  I have witnessed so many emotions throughout each place---I have seen desperation, sadness, overwhelming grief, loneliness and so much more, but what I also saw was that people are desperate for something more and that something more is the love of Jesus Christ.  When we chose Jesus Christ as our Savior, when we decided to live our lives for Him, then we also chose to show that love to others.  So I ask myself, how do I do this, how do I love like Jesus?  After much prayer, I have decided that I don’t have it in me to love like Jesus, so that is why I have to obey the scriptures and deny myself everyday---I have to ask that Jesus remove anything in me that will hinder me from living for him today and replace those things with the Holy Spirit.  Until we come to the realization that we don’t have it within ourselves to love like Jesus, we will never be able to love like Him.

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  Luke 9:23

He must become greater; I must become less.  John 3:30

For those of you who want to keep up with my brother’s progress here is the link to his facebook page.  I try to keep it updated a couple times a week.  Thank you in advance for the continued prayers! http://www.facebook.com/#!/PrayerChainForEddieWhite

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