REBEL - LOVE

 

Write From My Heart

October 19, 2021

REBEL to resist or oppose

LOVE  have a strong liking for, or interest in

1 Samuel 12:9, 12, 15, 25   But they forgot the LORD their God … you said to me, “No, we want a king to rule over us” –even though the LORD your God was your king. … But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers. … Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.

            There are those who would shun becoming a Christian on the basis of not wanting to “follow a bunch of rules.” Those same folk claim the Bible to be “nothing but a list of do’s and don’ts.” Truly the Bible does give suggestions for living a Christ-centered life, but as for rules there are only two. And just for reference, all of the 10 Commandments can be placed within these two rules:

Matthew 22:37-40  Jesus replied, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

            That’s it. Those are the two rules. Love God with all that you are and have. Love others as if they were you.  It is only when we oppose God or resist loving others that we fail in our responsibility as a Christian. If we are honest, I think we find it easier to love (i.e., have strong liking for…) God than we do to love (i.e., have strong interest in…) others. Perhaps it comes down to this: having such a strong interest in others that we desire for them to share in the same love of God we have through Christ.

John 13:34  A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. All men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.

John 14:15  If you love me, you will obey what I command.

John 15:12  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

2 John vs. 5-6 I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

1 John 5:3  This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.