Jume 3, 2012
Remember that nothing is certain in this life. -- Ecclesiastes 7: 14b (NLT)
My friend came home from the hospital today. Recovering at home and resting it provided me an opportunity to remind her she is loved. We forget to remind people of that during the day to day grind of this life. If we were to be honest we would probably have to admit that we take people for granted a little bit in this life. I also remember just six months ago another friend who did not come home from the hospital. Sometimes God sends them back to us and sometimes God takes them home. As the key verse reminds us today; nothing is certain in this life.
We live such cut off lives sometimes and it should not be so. Even within the modern church family we do not see the model Jesus had laid out for us:
So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." -- John 13: 35-36 (NLT)
The eleventh commandment if you will. I know we try within our busyness to let those God has placed around us know how much they are valued and loved but I can't help feeling we could always do a bit of a better job at it. I know we have our own problems. Our own careers, bills to pay, headaches and heartaches, worries and fears. But that is merely the stuff that fills the gaps in our lives. That is the stuff that takes us from one step to another. The glue however that holds together who we are is always the people we have in our lives. The people God has blessed us with in our lives. Nothing should ever come between them and us. Nothing should ever get in the way. Not our work or our ministry. Look at the commandment! Jesus is telling us that this is how the world will be able to tell us apart from everyone else! Not by how high our steeples are or how many satellite channels our church can be featured on. Not by how great our choir sings or how sharp our preaching is. No. Only by our love. Only by our love for one another. Why?
Because the world can do all the other stuff too. The world can have great music and gifted speakers. The world can build tall buildings and create their own television channels. But at the end of the day they will always be searching for the love that is so absent in this life. Look at what love has been reduced to in the world. It is mocked. It is derided. You have websites devoted to assisting adultery today! Divorce and abuse are rampant. The Bible warned of this in the end times beloved -- the love of most has indeed grown cold.
But we are called to be more than that. We are called to be a peculiar people in a time of hopelessness. A royal priesthood in a time devoid of real love. We are called by Jesus Himself to love one another -- just as He loved us! Not in the cheap ways the world casts love. Jesus loved us so much that He laid down His life for our sins. He loved us so much He did this for us before we actually repented! While we were yet sinners! That is the love we are supposed to represent to the body of believers because as the key verse reminds us; nothing is certain in this life.
I do not write these things from any place of superiority. Of these I am the least. I do understand how difficult it can be in the grind of life to appreciate, truly appreciate, the people God has given us. The sad irony is the closer we get to someone the more we tend to take them for granted. It is not a conscious thing; it is just a result of the flesh we live in. Additionally, we can tend to let the littlest things drive wedges in between us and people we care about. We can let little grievances to our pride destroy relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We fail to heed the warnings God has given us:
So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. And "don't sin by letting anger control you."d]"> Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil. -- Ephesians 4: 25-27 (NLT)
The truth is that we allow our anger to control us sometimes. We let the sun go down while that anger is still there festering. We may be able to put it out of our mind and convince everyone that we are ok with it, but meanwhile the devil is setting up residence in that anger. His goal is to expand that foothold of anger into a stronghold of resentment, bitterness and unforgiveness. Too often he is successful and we may not even know it. That is why God says to leave your offering at the altar and reconcile if you know someone has something against you. Not just if you are holding something -- but if you know they are. God is saying to get it right with each other before you come to sacrifice anything to Him. I lost my father when I was 26 but I didn't find out until I was 28. That is what bitterness and unforgiveness will do. It will rob you of the time you need to make things right -- even if you are not the one who is wrong. When you stand over a grave, right and wrong doesn't seem to matter as much anymore. Reconcile while you still can.
Whether it is unforgiveness, or just the tendency to take people for granted, we need to try and do better with the eleventh commandment. We need to be edifiers of each other -- building each other up in the love of Jesus Christ. We need to tell each other that we are appreciated. That we are important. That we are loved. Because tomorrow is promised to nobody. Our life is but a vapor on this mortal coil. Nothing is ever certain in this life.
Take a good look around your life today. Take a good look around for the people God has gifted you with. Consciously take inventory about what they mean in your life. Once you have assessed that -- tell them. Don't stop telling them. I had a dear friend that did not come home from the hospital six months ago. We had been through more together than most people will ever know. We fought the devil himself together. But God in His sovereignty took her home and I never had a chance to say goodbye. I would have liked one last chance to tell her how important she was but the Lord gives and the Lord takes away.
I have another friend I have been through a lot with over the years. She has the best smile I have ever seen and always makes me look better in pictures. We have traveled together, laughed together and cried together. We have grown in Christ together. I love her dearly as a friend and today God gave me another chance to tell her so. Today she came home from the hospital. These are the people who make up our lives. These people are our lives. Never stop telling them because nothing is certain in this life.
Heather, you are loved.
Rev. Anthony
