Thursday 5-7-15 (Esquel, Argentina)
Scripture reading: 2 Sam 13-14 Matt 24
S. Matt 24:12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love
of many will grow cold.” NLT
O. Jesus
was answering the disciples’ question related to the end of the world and His
coming Kingdom. Part of Jesus’ answer
was the above statement. Does not this
describe accurately the days we live in?
A. Lost
love! It is the story of ten thousand
married couples. They started out with
passionate love for one another, but time has passed and life has become
routine. Arguments flare up and their
loving relationship has grown cold. In
far too many such cases one of the two is lured away into an adulterous relationship.
But now
Jesus is speaking about love for Him and for His Father in Heaven. We started out with enthusiasm. We were head over heels in love with Jesus. His love dominated our thoughts and
actions. But then in time our spiritual
life became routine. We were still going
through the motions, but the passion was missing.
In John’s vision, Jesus says, write
this to the church: (Rev 2:4-5) “You guys are doing okay… but I have to level with
you. You don't love me as you did at
first! Examine your heart and see how
far you have fallen from your first love!
Listen, I am calling you back to me again… back to your loving devotion
and passion to serve Me as you did at first.” (My paraphrase)
P. Dear Lord Jesus, I think I hear Your loving
voice calling me back to my first love for You.
Time has passed. Life has become
routine. I need to be drawn back into
Your loving arms again. I need to find
myself sitting at your feet. I need to
drink fresh from the fountain of living water.
I don’t want to hear You say, “Your doing okay, my son… except for one
thing…” That’s not good enough. That is not acceptable. Fill me again with burning passion for You,
not just as I once had, but Lord, I ask you to carry me into a new and deeper
love relationship with You… Yes, closer to You than ever before! Amen.
Ralph
No comments:
Post a Comment