Reckless love and bold obedience

 I have spent a lot of time thinking about what it means to be a follower of Christ the last couple of weeks, and I have come to the conclusion that at least two things are required: bold obedience and reckless love. Because, after all, isn't that what Jesus did for us? We are told in 1 John 2:3-4,

Now by this we know that we have come to know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist....

And in 1 John 15:12-14 we read,

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.

The message is clear and direct. To know God, we must obey his commandments, and his commandment is to love one another as he has loved us.

Jesus boldly obeyed God and recklessly loved us all the way to the cross. It wasn't easy. He didn't lose his life in easy circumstances. It was degrading, excruciating and led to the worst thing of all - the absolute absence of God as he battled Satan for our very souls, fighting the consequences of our sin for us, the battle we could not ever win on our own behalf.

In return, God asked us to obey him and love others, even to give our lives in love for others. This wasn't some kind of abstract idea he was talking about. Early followers of The Way were risking their lives to spread the new message of Jesus. But it didn't end with them. He asks the same of us, each and every day. In Matthew 25, Jesus is telling parables, and towards the end, he is summing up his message when he gives a summary message,

‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’

This theme resonates throughout the Bible. How we love others is a reflection of how we love God. How we treat others reflects what we hold in our hearts where only God can see.

My son-in-law, a very wise pastor that I love to reflect with when he has a few minutes now and then, directed me to Romans 12:1-3 as I was struggling with my own heart this morning.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

We are living in difficult and uncertain times right now. Our divisions cross all the boundaries - national, familial, religious. It feels overwhelming sometimes, but in all things, we can have faith God is walking through the storm with us.

So I will continue to do what he commanded us to do, and follow his Way. I will love recklessly, and obey boldly, living his Word and trusting that God will bring me through.

“This faith transforms the whirlwind of despair into a warm and reviving breeze of hope. The words of a motto which a generation ago were commonly found on the wall in the homes of devout persons need to be etched on our hearts:

                    Fear knocked at the door.
                    Faith answered.
                    There was no one there.”

                                  ― Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love