Ravished part 1
There are a lot of interesting questions in the Bible. And some of them even get answered. Like Luke 3:10-11, "And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise." What should we do? Live out of your abundance. Give to those in need. Asked and answered. Or Matthew 18:21-22, "Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven." In other words, there is no limit to grace, or mercy, or forgiveness... or love. And that's actually what's on my heart for this Rant series: When should we stop loving people? And, of course, my short answer is: Never. Or, to say it another way, you should stop loving people when God stops loving you. Because that's the New Commandment, right? Love one another as Jesus loves you. So you're only expected to love as much as you are loved. But look at Proverbs 5:19, "Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe: let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love." So let me say it like this: There's a phrase I like that says, "Check yourself before you wreck yourself." I like it because its sound advice. It goes along with this one, "If you cross the line, you get what you get." I think a lot of times we act without thinking... or we think without acting. And both can be equally bad. Because more is lost by indecision than wrong decision... but at the same time you shouldn't do things just to do them. You should do things on purpose, by purpose, and for purpose. That's one of the most important things I'm trying to teach Logan--know why you're doing what you're doing. Do it for the right reason. And that's where it comes full circle. Because the best--possibly the only reason--to do something is because its in your heart to do it. "Love made me do it." Exactly. And if you're living Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life--by letting HIM live it in you, and through you, and as you--you're living a life of love. So the question, "When should we stop loving people?" isn't even a question. Because we are too busy filling ourselves to overflowing with the love that we've already been filled with to worry about what happens when it overflows out of us. And watch this: People EXPECT you to stop loving them. I think sometimes we're so afraid of actually getting what we want... of actually having that love that we so desperately desire... that when we get it, it overwhelms us and we push back against it. It seems to good to be true. We don't trust it. So we sabotage it. We push the limits. We see if love really IS unconditional. But I'm telling you right now, if you're letting God's love ravish you... you KNOW (and believe) that it IS unconditional. That is has nothing to do with your actions and everything to do with your identity. Not what you do, but who you are. And then you find out that what you do FLOWS from who you are. Loved people love people. That's why we love (Him, by loving each other) because He first loved us. God loves the hell out of us, and then we simply let what's inside come out. We let God ravish us ALWAYS, so that we can ALWAYS ravish each other. Always love each other!