4-26-2016

 Good Morning All!! 

        1 John 2:1; “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

    As far as I know, there is no “Grandma Handbook.”  There is no manual that is handed out upon the birth of a grandchild with instructions.  The vast majority of grandmothers pretty much just start doing it.  They start as soon as they can and they carry on until, well they just carry on.  I have listened to grandmothers both new and seasoned.  I have listened as they tell of what they do for their grandchildren.  They bake them cookies.  They pick them up or take them to daycare.  They give them gifts, some needed items and just some wanted items.  They attend their school programs and little league games and junior volleyball matches.  There is no manual to follow but the greatest percentage do a fine job.

    As I looked a little closer, I asked them why they did what they did. Were they afraid of failing the “grandmother exam”? Were they afraid of disappointing someone?  The answer I received over and over again was a very simple one; the grandmothers loved their grandchildren and did what they did for their grandchildren because they were motivated by love.  They were motivated by a grandmother’s love for their grandchild.

     This is somewhat like our life as Christians should be.  We are to keep the commandments.  We are to keep them because they are God’s law and when we keep them our life goes more smoothly and we are more contented in our life.  Yet our greatest motivation should be love.  We keep the commandments because it is the best way for us to show God our love for him.  Our loving response is to keep his commandments; to live our life according to God’s holy plans and design.

     You hear some who say they keep the commandments because they are afraid of what will happen to them if they don’t.  Yet fear is never the pure desire.  Fear is what leads us to look for loopholes and to find excuses and to rationalize our actions.  Fear is what makes us hide.  It is love and the desire to show love that moves us to act in the pureness that God desires.  Loves motivates, stirs compassion and feeds hope.  Fear causes divisions, seeks to self-serve and is driven by a lack of hope.  Love lifts up while fear beats down.  Love directs us to God’s heart and to the essence of his being and of ours.  We seek to keep God’s commandments because we love him and when we fall short; we have Jesus there to advocate for us to forgive us and to give us the certainty of hope in our salvation.

Father, lead me to love as you love me.  Lead me to desire your heart and will.  Lead me to see that the purest form of love is found in your commands.  Keep me in your loving arms that I may show this love to the entire world especially those who are hurting, sad and lost.  Make me a beacon of hope and a light of mercy.  Guide me by your Spirit.  In the precious name of Jesus our risen Savior we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret