I Have Loved You
Sometimes I blog, sometimes I write poems. Sometimes I just write other things!
“I have loved you,” says the Lord.
But you ask, “How have you loved us?”
We read the sacred history of the One who created the heavens and the earth. The light. The sky. The waters. The land.
And as it teemed with living creatures, so He created man, from the dust of the ground, in His likeness. To bear his image.
And it was very good.
But the treachery of sin came to spoil and destroy.
Then, when we consider the heavens, the work of His hands, the moon and the stars which He has set in place.
O what is man that He is mindful of us? When we live so far from who and what He created us to be?
But still: “I have loved you,” says the Lord.
“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.”
Yet hark!
There is no sound.
Cradled in 400 years of silence, mankind waits.
And still we ask, “How have you loved us?”
We trail back to the promises.
The Lord himself will give you a sign.
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son.
He shall be called Immanuel.
Yet hark!
There is no sound.
But the silence of God is not the unfaithfulness of God. Silence is not confusion, lack or indifference – in the quiet we do not find loss of hope or apathy. The pause is not powerlessness or defeat.
Instead – hark!
Do you hear what I hear?
Do you hear the herald angels sing?
Zechariah, gripped with fear, aged and childless listened as God’s promise came forth.
“Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. You will bear a son, ad you are to call him John. He will go on to make ready a people for the Lord.”
The silence broken.
The echo of the prophet of old resounds.
“Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call Him Jesus.”
O wonderful counsellor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
“I have loved you,” says the Lord.
So, hark”
How has He loved us?
He sent his one and only son that we might live through Him.
How to Count Yourself Less in a More-Me World
- How to Count Yourself Less in a More-Me World
Very recently, I have been investing some time in trimming back what comes into my inbox. I get hundreds of emails a day that I just swipe and delete. Emails from companies that are trying their very best to make sure I part with some hard-earned cash in exchange for something they can offer me.
Special offers. Loyalty offers. One-day-only offers. Offers promising to make me look better, feel better, stay healthier, improve my smile, enhance my eyes, smooth my complexion…the list goes on and on.
Then there are other offers. Ones to boost my income, improve my memory, increase my knowledge, support my learning…
All for me, me, me, me, me.
I am to take whatever I have in time, money or resources and pump it back into myself in the hope that somewhere along the line I should become a better, thinner, more intelligent, more attractive version of myself.
Modern life is all about me.
Which is completely counter-cultural to what the Bible tells us. Let’s take a look at these words from Philippians 2:3-8:
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
This is not a message that neatly fits with the constant bombardment of media telling us that we need to focus more and more on ourselves because we deserve it; this is not a message with others at the centre at all!
So how do we fight this barrage we get? These constant messages encouraging us to put ourselves first, looking only to our own interests?
- Keep Questioning – do nothing from selfish ambition
Sometimes, we can have a short memory can’t we? We mean well, we have good intentions, but the swamps of life consume us and before we know it, we are exactly where we tried so hard not to be, didn’t want to be or thought we’d never be.
And the only way to conquer ourselves sometimes is to keep asking ourselves questions…
Who is this for?
Who does this benefit?
What is this for?
Whose glory is this for?
Who does this serve?
If we are intentionally checking up on ourselves, taking time to reflect and check where we are and where we are headed, maybe we would stand less chance off derailing ourselves.
What questions can you ask yourself to check that your motive is not selfish, or your ambition misplaced?
- Keep Well – Look not only to his own interests
So by implication, we can assume that we are to take care of our own interests.
It’s keeping those interests in the right place.
I am convinced that we are to do our best to eat healthily, drink plenty of water, exercise regularly and get enough sleep.
Modern life is so full of stressors that, without these, we can sink ourselves fast.
We are to take care of whatever it is God has given us: our bodies, our families, our jobs, our homes, our resources…
BUT…
- Keep Watch – But also the interests of others
We can check our motives, and keep our resources well without ever looking to someone else’s welfare.
As deliberate as we are with these other things, so must we be with other people.
Galatians 6:10 tells us to do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
We need to look out for other people, in a way that is intentional and deliberate; helping wherever and whenever we can, with whatever resources God has given us.
Some people may need our time, others may need finances, some might need help…we can be creative in how we give back what God has given to us!
- Keep Christ – Yours in Christ Jesus
And at the centre of it all, there must be Jesus.
All we have is because of God’s rich blessing to us. Whether we are able to finance a missionary overseas, or be the hug someone needs on a dark day, we can do these things because Christ first loved us.
And His love is not distant or aloof, dependent on our worthiness or social status. His love was the very epitome of self-sacrifice.
We can follow a lot of people; wise people, knowledgeable people, humanitarians and charitable workers with big hearts.
But let us always keep Christ as our ultimate role model, who took the form of a servant and humbled himself.
Yes, we live in a world that promotes self over other, and applauds ambition over service and esteems gain over sacrifice. But this is not the life we are called to. Press on sisters! …Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9
Helen Kerr 