Thoughtfortheday

With hope that this page will bring glory to God and attention to His Word, you are invited to check here most every day for a piece of scripture, thoughts on the verse(s) and a prayer. May the ideas presented here bring you edification and fulfillment as you continue your journey with Christ.

Saturday May 4, 2024

Today's Scripture:

Thoughts on Today's Verse(s):

Doesn't it seem kinda strange that Jesus had to command His disciples to love one another? Not really. If we truly think about it, we find that even with the ones in this world whom we truly love and care about, we often have to work at loving them. That's because sometimes every one of us is at least a little, or a lot, unlovable.

I wonder if the other ten found it hard to love Thomas when he refused to believe that they had seen The Lord after His resurrection. And let's face it, the rest of the gang was not happy with James and John when they asked to have a seat of honor in Christ's kingdom. Jesus knew that there would be times when His beloved friends would not agree on what should be done or how to do it thus He ordered/commanded them to love one another.

Hmm, sound familiar? Isn't that the way we in the church still operate to this day? Do we not encounter many situations and decisions in which we don't agree? Yep. It's unavoidable. Due to our fallen human nature, there are many times when we attempt to exert our own will on the affairs of the group, giving little consideration to how that might affect the purposes of the church. We just want what we want, giving little or no attention to what God wants. In those moments every one of us can be difficult to love thus requiring a concerted effort on the part of the church to love us.

That's why Jesus commanded it. He fully expects that His command to take precedence over our own wishes and desires. He expects that if we truly love Him like we say we do then we will follow His decree and work to love each other by an act of sheer will. Sometimes that's exactly what it takes. Just like it takes an act of will to not love, it is only by an act of will that we love each other in the church.

Prayer:

Loving and Commanding Lord, how perfectly wise You really are. You know how broken we are and You know that we often get off track. We put our own selfish desires ahead of Your righteous wishes for the church and we simply confound things instead of making them clear. All of this makes us very hard to love. Thank You for commanding us to love each other for it is only by loving our brothers and sisters in Christ and seeking to love You in obedience that Your church will endure and we can help You to accomplish Your will. Guide us to love each other by an act of will that honors and glorifies You alone. In Your love we pray, Amen.