For love is as strong as death . . .
Its flames are flames of fire,
A most vehement flame.
Many waters cannot quench love,
Nor can the floods drown it.
(Song of Solomon 8:6,7)
IF IT’S FORWARD THAT WE WANT TO MOVE, LOVE IS THE MOST POWERFUL THING TO PROPEL US IN THAT DIRECTION. As a motivator, love really has no equal. It’s “as strong as death.” It burns with a flame that “many waters cannot quench.” If someone you know is trying to do something and love is the reason why, you’d be wise to get out of the way. The thing is very likely going to happen.
Wouldn’t we reach forward more fervently in life if our love for God were more affectionate? If the word “passion” accurately described our love for God, could anything hold us back? For too long, most of us have loved God too little and with too little fire.
The love we so desperately need in our relationship to God is a thing we can choose to have. We are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind (Matthew 22:37), and that is a command we are capable of obeying. We can choose to think rightly about God, and then we can feed our minds on the truths He has revealed about Himself in the Scriptures. When we do that with the genuine intent to be what He created us to be, we will find ourselves loving Him, adoring Him, and longing to be with Him now and forever.
It is no mere happenstance that God ordained the Lord’s Supper for His people. Of all the things that can feed our love, none is more powerful than meditating, with other Christians, on the staggering, unfathomable love shown at the cross of Christ.
The world, the flesh, and the devil must be fought. But the simple fact is, we fight a losing battle if love is left out of the mix. If we don’t have the help of our hearts in serving God, it’s not likely that we’ll hold out to the end. So, my friend, it is imperative that your activities be motivated by love, first for God and second for your neighbor. If that’s the case (and God certainly knows whether it is or not), then discouragement will not defeat you. Other motives may falter, but “many waters cannot quench love.”
“Love can hope where reason would despair” (Lord George Lyttelton).
Gary Henry — WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
