pramsay posted on January 26, 2012 14:32 1783 views

TAKE THE LOVE TEST

“I know what you mean,” Myrtle said. “Some of the stuff that Paul writes about, and yes, Peter too, are so nit-picky and irrelevant to our times.”

Louise chimed in: “Nit-picky is a good word for it. In the bigger scheme of things, some of the things in the Epistles are so insignificant. Let me tell you, we have bigger things to worry about. I tell my friends: don’t worry about dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. God has bigger things on His mind than whether I do this, look like that, go there or watch that. I love the Lord; really that’s all that matters!”

Myrtle wholeheartedly agreed. “I try to focus on the things I like to do and that seem reasonable to me. If I don’t quite make 100% in the big test before the Lord…well, as long as I get a passing grade, I really don’t care.”

Do you know what is wrong with Myrtle and Louise’s attitudes? Lots!

Try memorizing this little verse:

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments;
and His commandments are not burdensome.
1 John 5:3

Talk is cheap. We can talk about how good God is and how much we love the Lord. Sounds great! We can chatter about how the Lord is guiding our lives; in fact, we can talk about the Lord until the ‘cows come home’. The reality is God doesn’t measure our love by syllables or decibels; not by how much we say we love Him or how loud we say it. The test of love is whether or not we are gladly doing what He expects us to do. One translation puts it this way: “Loving God means keeping His commandments and His commandments are not burdensome.”

Love, obedience and worship form a tight triad. They go hand-in-hand. Think about Abraham’s willingness to obey the Lord by taking his only son Isaac to Mount Moriah for a sacrifice. In Genesis 22 we see true love for the Lord in sandal-leather. God asked him to do something that was contrary to human thinking. Without hesitating or stalling for even a day, Abraham got up at the crack of dawn to obey the Lord and to keep his commandments. All three words are mentioned in this one chapter: love, obey, and worship.

If submitting to the Word of God is a constant pain for me; if obeying the Scriptures is a daily annoyance and an ongoing chore for me; if bowing to the teachings in the Epistle’s is a struggle for me, then the warning lights are flashing. Something is wrong big time.

If I genuinely love God and adore His Son, this is the type of prayer I should be able to pray:

“I want to please You, despite the cost involved. It may not be easy but because it’s You, whatever You say, I will do. Whatever makes You happy makes me happy. If there are some ‘do’s and don’ts’ I will cheerfully submit to Your desires. I am going to read Your Word very carefully and search verse by verse for ways to please You more and more. Rather than searching for verses that could let me off the hook in some things, I am on a search for ways to honor and obey You in every facet of my life and lifestyle.”

The extent to which such a desire is lacking in my heart is the true measure of my love for the Lord. Take the love test today.

Walk carefully and closely with the Lord today,
Warmly in Christ,
Peter Ramsay

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