Daughter of the King

Love- can't get away from it

What does it mean? When Jesus said, “follow Me,” what did He mean?
I used to think it had to do with some sort of point system. If I do enough Quiet Times and don’t get too many “marks” then I would be following Him.

This summer I discovered my argument to be based on a fallacy. Jesus paid the price. There is nothing I have to do to get to heaven, but the privileges of being a Christian are endless. Following Him is simply being like Him, which is what we want when we are saved, amen?
What does it look like? What does it mean for me to be “in His steps”? Pondering this question can cause waves of guilt. The sins of omission are real, and I don’t like to think about them. I am sinning when I don’t love my neighbor. In History class we were discussing the Confusion’s motto: don’t do unto others what you would not have them do unto you. If that is what Jesus had said, then I would be off the hook most of the time. But He said do. He commands action and consideration. His love is an active love.

Now, sometimes I get carried away and I become overwhelmed with what it means to really follow Christ. The possibilities are endless and there is so much that I am not doing for Him. That is when I am reminded that God knows I’m finite. Unlike Him, I cannot take care of everyone and everything at one time. However, I am to take care with the time that He has given me. I am at Grove City College recovering from culture shock. These people are all my age and they don’t have the same needs that I am used to addressing on the home front. Yet, they do have needs. It is my job to assess the situation and then come up with a game plan. I am learning how to love in a new way.

When I was agonizing over where I should go to college I knew that I needed to get out of the house, but I couldn’t articulate why. Now I’ve realized that God wanted to teach me love in a new way. I am depending on Him in a way that I didn’t at home, because He is my Father- the only one I’ve got with me. I am looking to Him for counsel, comfort and compassion in ways that I didn’t at home because those needs where met through people in my life.

I am learning how to be loved by God in a new way, and now I need to learn how to love through God in a different way. There are hurting people everywhere. We all need love, but we receive it in differently.

The cool thing about following Jesus is that it’s never boring. There isn’t a formula that gets old after a while. Love has a multitude of forms and we just have to use them. What a thing to pursue, mastering love. We die and Jesus says, “Well done my good and faithful servant. You have mastered love. Enter glory.”

“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”
I John 4:10-12

I love that, that we can’t see God but we can see his love- in ourselves and in one another. It’s a great plan.

Housekeeping item:
I misplaced my student ID. I had it last night when I came to bed, and this morning I couldn’t find it to go to breakfast. I have a temporary one, but it costs 20$ to get a new one so I would like to find it.

Also, this is my 700th post. I suppose that's funfact not housekeeping. Lol.

Thanks

posted by Becca @ 1:34 PM