Do You Know Love?

Matthew 15:13 -- Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Love ♥

It's a concept that we've thrown around since we could speak.

We loved the little boy or girl in our kindergarten class. We were in love in middle school with the boy or girl that was too cool for us. We fell in love with our high school sweetheart. We loved someone enough to vow holy matrimony under God.

John 13:34-35 -- A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

We know that we're supposed to love each other. Christ commanded it. But so many times we fall short of it.

Do you ever wonder if you're missing out on what love could be? Do you think it's possible that if we don't love Christ first, that we can't possibly know what human-to-human love is, or even be able to show it? And I mean really LOVE Him.

Palm Sunday is tomorrow.

Jesus entered Jerusalem. We've heard the story many times. He rode into the city on a donkey. That creature symbolized peace. I've read that when a king came in peace, he would ride a donkey instead of a horse. And this is what Jesus did. He came in peace. His guard was down, as it always had been. Anyone could come to Him, and He would listen. People tried to turn the children away, but in  

Matthew 19:14, Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

By this time, he had attracted the attention of many, but they were in it for the wrong reason. They loved Him because of what He was doing, not because of who He was. They were more concerned with what they could get out of Him, than actually being in love with Him.

Ever heard the term agape? It's the unconditional, heart-wrenching, send-my-one-and-only-Son-to-die kind of love. It's not the love we use when we get something from someone and want to show gratitude in return. It's not even the kind of love that we extend to family members and friends. It's the kind of love that God has for us; His children. He loves us so much, and all He asks us in return, is to accept His Son. To love His Son. For when we love the Son, we love the Father.

As Jesus rode through the streets of Jerusalem, I wonder what He was thinking. I've read that He felt disappointment because as I mentioned before, He knew how the people felt about Him and why they responded the way that they did. But I also think that He felt a sense of shortness. Time was running out. He knew this week would lead to His body being broken for these people (and us). He knew that in the end, they would forsake Him. The excitement of this man was wearing off.

It's as if everything He did in those 3 years meant nothing. His teachings fell on deaf ears. His words were unheeded. His commands were thrown to the wind.

Are you going to follow their actions? Are you going to let His commands and teachings go unheard? Are you only going to love Him in the times that He answers your prayers? Are you worshiping and praising His name because He deserves it? Or has the excitement of Him worn off?

Look inside of yourself.

Are you in a relationship with Christ because you're truly in love with Him, or are you in it for the fate of your soul? Yes, it's important to know where our future of eternity lies, but we are missing the point of God if we forget to love Him.

Jesus offers peace. He offers compassion. He offers understanding. He offers everything that we look for in a relationship, but we tend to look past it because we can't see His face. We forget that He came here in an act of love. Agape. He doesn't expect us to love Him. He wants us to love Him. He wants us to experience Him. He became love for us.

1 John 4:16 -- And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

JESUS IS LOVE.

Fall in love with our Savior.

Fall in love with our King.

FALL BACK IN LOVE WITH LOVE HIMSELF ♥

Blessings,


A.