LOVE And JOY

There are many words in our English language that we apply to differing situations and circumstances. Just think about them for a minute. They may have the same essence but differing application. Simple words like say, road. There are a number of meanings. The road is something you drive down. It is also something we take as we live life. How about the word, cloudy? Again we have cloudy in that it is cloudy out or it can mean obscure.
Our second Sunday of Advent brings us close to one of these words. I wrote about this just recently so I will not repeat myself. Suffice to say, we have watered down its meaning when we apply it to loving something against someone. Our greatest understanding of love can be found in two scriptures. The first you all know by heart. John 3:16, “For God so LOVED the world” . . . Oh, there is another one of those words, the world, is it physical or what’s in it? Just asking.
Our true understanding of love is revealed to us in the demonstration of love shown to us. Something akin to a mom or dad who loves their child no matter what they have broken or gotten into. God said, ‘Yes you do things wrong but it doesn’t stop me from loving you.’ It is something a parent does when they look down at that new face for the first time. God does that even though we have no concept at the time that He is indeed loving us.
The second understanding we get from God in relations to love, is when he tells us that we need to LOVE Him back. It is the great commandment. What? He is commanding us to love Him? That’s right. How dare someone order us to love them? Step parents know all about this one. But no, I think it’s different. I think He starts by commanding and when we finally get to know Him and understand what He is all about and how we relate to Him, the command will disappear. It will be replaced by a facsimile of His love and our heart will leap for JOY.
And that loved ones is next Sunday’s Advent word. JOY is having all those warm and fuzzes in the right places. JOY is not just someone’s name or something we experience when the present is the right one. It is that point when your heart finally connects to a LOVING God, and all seems right with our world. Not right with the world, just ours. Real JOY comes out of real LOVE. This is that precious moment on the road of life where the clouds part and we see Him for who He really is. And we will feel loved like never before. You cross over the divide that separates us from the LOVE of God and step into His presence. It is a God moment. It’s like the first time you hold the hand of someone you just fell in love with. It’s the last moment you get to hold the hand of someone precious before they take hold of His hand.
Joy To The World - The Lord Had Come!
In our lives, In our hearts and In Joy.
Something to think about
Rob