The Measure Of Love

[dave c]

HEALING SHELTER MINISTRIES #131as Re-Written 22APR09

Save Me Today—Part Forty Five: The Measure Of Love

by rev dave c

Isaiah 58:13 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken (NIV). The Bible is full of “if...then...and I will” statements. From God telling Adam, “If you will leave the tree of the knowledge of good and evil alone—then I will bless you with all good things,” to God telling you and me that, “If you will turn to My Son, then I will forgive your sins and I will give you eternal life”—all of Scripture tells us that “If we will obey God’s living and written Word, then we will experience the full extent of His love, and we will come to truly know Him.” Obedience is the key. Obedience brings righteousness. Obedience brings peace. Obedience brings joy. In fact, Jesus tells us that our obedience to Him, to His commandments, is the means by which he measures the depth and extent of our love.

Listen to the words of Christ beginning in John 14:15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." 22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?" 23 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. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me (NIV).

“If you love me, you will obey what I command. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.” What does Jesus command? What does Jesus teach? Again, Holy Scripture is clear and to the point. We read in the Gospel of Mark 12:28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" 29 "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: `Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these" (NIV). Then, in John 13:34&35 Jesus tells His disciples, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (NIV).

Jesus gave us three commands. Two “old” ones: Love God with my whole person (De 6:4&5) and love my neighbor as myself (Le 19:18)...and one “new” one: Love others as He has loved me (Jn 13:34). All of the law and the prophets are summed up by, and hang upon, these commandments (Mt 7:12; 22:40). This is how people know that we are Christians. Loving God with my whole person means that I hold nothing physical, nothing emotio-rational, and nothing spiritual back from being surrendered to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And I love myself by feeding me, clothing me, pursuing fellowship on all levels, getting medical help when I need it, and seeking secure rest—I am to love my neighbors in the same manner. Finally, Jesus loved me by laying down His life for me, and that’s how I am to love you—I am to put your life before my own. If I am unwilling to be self-sacrificing, then I am unwilling to share in the love of Christ (Mt 10:38).

In Chapters 13-15 of the Gospel of John, Jesus refers to the word “agapao-love” some twenty-three times. In chapters 14&15, the Lord states seven times that He does and says only what is in complete obedience to the will of the Father. He also tells us seven times that if we love Him, we will obey His commands. In John 15:10-14 we are told that our obedience today, has rewards today: If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command (NIV). If I am unable to know the joy of Christ’s love right here and right now; I am called to drop to my knees before my Creator, my Sustainer, my Savior, and my Lord and ask Him to reveal the nature of my disobedience—to please grant me His wisdom, His strength, and His perseverance so that I might repent through the empowering of the Holy Spirit. King David’s prayer needs be my own: Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me (Ps 51:6-12; NIV). Amen.