Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Love Makes All the Difference

John makes a rather surprising statement in 1st John 5:3, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” Really? Keeping God’s commandments isn’t burdensome? Yet, surprisingly, of all of creation, everything obeys God except man - the one who should most cherish the privilege.

Psalm 148:8 says: “Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word.” All nature obeys God, but not man. In the book of Jonah, everything obeys God except the prophet Jonah. The wind and the waves obey God’s command. The great fish obeys God’s command. In the end, even the castor plant and the worm obey God’s command. But not Jonah – at least not willingly.

Why don’t we? Could it be because we really do think the Lord’s commands are burdensome? Could it be we think He expects too much? Or maybe, that we think God just wants to rob us of our fun and fulfillment?

What foolishness! We make the same mistakes about serving God as we do about love. Kids think love is romance with its tingly feelings and butterflies in the stomach. But when the romance fades and real life takes place with bills and obligations, they quickly shed the one they previously claimed to love with all their hearts. So they leave their marriages with broken hearts and filled with disillusionment. They have bought the world’s lie.

An author one time was trying to publish love poems. “What are your poems about?” the editor asked.

“They are about love,” gushed the poet.

The editor settled back in his chair and said, “Well, read me a poem. The world could certainly use a lot more love.”

The poem she read was filled with “moons” and “Junes” and all kinds of sticky sentiment, and it was more than the editor could take.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “but you just don’t know what love is all about. It’s not moonlight and roses. It’s sitting up all night at a sick bed, or working extra hours so the kids can have new shoes. The world doesn’t need your brand of poetic love. It needs some good old fashioned practical love.” There’s lots of truth in that.

What is real love? It’s a mother changing a dirty diaper. It’s walking the floor with a sick baby. It’s a wife standing beside her husband through failure and loss. It’s the man caring for his Alzheimer stricken wife for years when she doesn’t even know who he is. It’s the mother pouring her heart out in prayer year after year for her wayward son. True love comes with the willingness to sacrifice, and the greatest human example (outside of Christ) is the love of a Mother.

But isn’t being a mother a drag? Not to the mother. To the mother, taking care of her children is a joy. Somehow, changing a dirty diaper or cleaning up vomit is different if it’s your own kid. Why? Because you love him with all your heart, so it isn’t burdensome. The same is true with serving God. Can it be hard work? Dirty work? Sometimes! But burdensome? NEVER! You get what you expect.

J. Vernon McGee tells the story of a family of settlers in a wagon pulling into a small town, and they asked a couple of old timers rocking on the porch of the general store, “What kind of town is this?”

The old timers asked, “What kind of town did you come from?”

And they said, “Oh, it was filled with friendly folks who were always ready to help. We kind of hated to leave it.”

The old timers said, “Why, that’s just like us. You’ll find this town to be the same way.”

The next day, another wagon pulled into town, and the second family asked the same question, “What kind of town is this?” And they received the same query from the old timers, “What kind of town did you come from?”

“Oh, it was terrible,” they said. “The people were all cold and unfriendly.”

The old timers shook their head, and said, “Yup, it’s just that same way here.”

Why? Because you’re still the same, and people will respond to you the same here as they did there.

It’s the same way in churches. If you come into church with a bad attitude, “Oh, they’re just going to pressure me to help in the nursery. They’re going to always ask for money. The people are all going to be stuck-up and cliquey.” Well? That’s probably exactly what you’ll find because that is what you are looking for.

But if you come in thinking, “I hope I make some good friends here. I hope I find lots of opportunities to serve.” That’s exactly what you’ll find. It depends on you. The same thing happens with serving God. Serving God isn’t burdensome, but a joy. It all depends on your heart.

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