Costly part 4
To love is to give--everything you have and everything you are. And that can be costly. So it's important to make sure the juice is worth the squeeze. It's important to make sure the thing you are loving--the thing you are spending your Three T's (Time, Talent, Treasure) on--is worth it. Which brings me to my affirmation that there are only two things in the universe WORTH loving. God... and people. Love God and love people. Love God BY loving people. And listen, I'm not saying you shouldn't take care of the earth, or things like that. Of course we should. God gave us dominion over the earth. What we do with it is what will happen to it. (A quick aside, I think that's the answer to the age-old idea of US waiting for GOD to do something. He did everything He needed to do on the cross. He equipped and empowered us. I think God is waiting for US to do something!) So. God and people. The God who is love, and the people He created in His image. We are God's love letter to the world. We are the way God has chosen (most of the time) to express Himself. Now watch this: "He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done" (Matthew 26:42). Jesus knew what was up. He told His disciples that the greatest love a man can have is to lay down His life for His friends. And yet... He also knew how costly that is. And yet and yet... He knew that it was worth it. He was willing to love a world that resoundly rejected Him. He was glad to love us even though it seemed like the more He loved us, the less we loved Him. Think about it. The humiliation, and the physical beatings... choosing to have Barabus released instead of an innocent man... But He endured. I won't say He took it in stride because I'm sure it hurt. Having His back ripped to shreds, and a crown of thorns jammed on His head. Nails hammered through His hands and feet. A spear shoved into His side. None of that sounds like a good time. And He KNEW it was going to happen before hand. Jesus said in another place, "For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?" (Luke 14:28). He knew the cost. And He counted us worthy. Worthy of His very life. Because, remember, He didn't just give His life FOR us... He gave His life TO us. He poured Himself out--giving everything He had and everything He was--and in so doing He filled us up. Filled us to overflowing. That's how He equipped and empowered us. That's how we can do what we were created to do. That's how we can love--by knowing that we ARE loved. Letting the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, lead and guide us into all truth. Apprehending what we've been apprehended of, if I can say it that way. Filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've been filled with. Letting what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. Receiving and releasing the love of God. Loving God and loving people. Because they're worth it. Loving God BY loving people. Because He's worth it. If you're going to give something all you've got, make sure. Because it's costly. Make sure it's worth it. And tomorrow we're going to really hit home the truth that even when people don't seem like it, they (WE) ARE worth it. No matter who and no matter what.