Cling to Love

SCRIPTURE

Psalm 119:97-104 (NRSV)

God's word like honey

Oh, how I love your law!
It is my meditation all day long.
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is always with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your decrees are my meditation.
I understand more than the aged,
for I keep your precepts.
I hold back my feet from every evil way,
in order to keep your word.
I do not turn away from your ordinances,
for you have taught me.
How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.


DEVOTION

Let me be honest with you; today I would find it hard to declare the words of this passage with sincerity.

I find that it is not always easy to say, "Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all day long.
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is always with me...I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. "

Because of the sinfulness of humanity, it is our fleshy nature to want to ignore God's law when our enemies rise up against us!

Instead of blessing those who curse us, we want to curse them back. Instead of praying for those who despitefully use us, we gossip about them. Instead of seeking the best for our enemies by repaying evil with good, we concoct elaborate plans regarding how we can visit an eye-for-an-eye upon those who have done us wrong!

It is so hard to love the unlovable, yet as I told someone today, as obedient Christians we have no choice in this matter.

The Bible does not say love your enemies, until they really mess you up. Bless your enemies, until they lie on you or destroy your property or reputation.

It says, love your neighbor, as yourself.

The Bible teaches that non-Christians will know that we are Christians by our LOVE. Therefore, we must cling to love, even when it is difficult, and especially when it costs us something.

Jesus clung to love even as humanity nailed him to a tree; and because he did, God raised him in ultimate victory over sin, death, and the grave, which opened up the doors to our eternal life in Him.

I am so glad that Jesus showed forth love, compassion, forgiveness, and grace, when we showed forth none of the same.

As followers of Jesus, we are called to love even when it is most difficult. To do so, we must pray:


Lord, please help me to love my enemies. Please help me to bless them and not curse them. Please help me to pray for their transformation. Please help me to resist the temptation to repay evil for evil--or to hurt them as much as they have hurt me. Please make me a peacemaker and show me the way to lead my enemies to Christ. I pray this in Jesus' Name, Amen.



INVITATION

If you have questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, “Come to Jesus” @ http://bit.ly/JVhaLta