The ONE Question God Won't Stop Asking
When I think “beautiful”, my mind naturally goes to two things: babies and beaches. Babies I get to experience on a regular basis through my non-profit. Beaches I rarely see but I remember. Sunsets, white sands, clear waters. Take note: when I do go on my ultimate vacation, rest assured I will be on or near a beach. But beaches, no matter how beautiful, get debris. Trash is left behind or washed up on the shore, dulling the shine of an amazing day in the sand. If not for the effort of those who work to keep them clean, even the most stunning coastlines would become hazardous and dangerous to tread.
Somebody has to walk the beach. Somebody has to keep it clean.
Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. ~Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV)
Despite the innumerable complexities of God, when it comes to how He desires to exist in our lives the Father is only asking ONE thing…
Will you walk with me? Will you walk in the way of love?
WHAT WILL YOU DO FOR LOVE?
Jesus, our savior. Our friend.
He stepped down from Heaven to inhabit an earthly body.
His holy feet walked into a temple at age 12 to teach . They tread the same dirt and sand and grass and mud as ours for 33 years.
He walked into the Upper Room knowing it would be His last meal,
walked into the garden of Gethsemane and prayed until his sweat became drops of blood.
And like a lamb led to slaughter,
He walked up a hill called “Golgatha” to his impending death.
But He also walked out of a tomb.
Jesus is LOVE walking.
And like Jesus, the question is not whether we will walk the earth. He did. We do.
The question is HOW will we walk the earth?
God is a God of community. He empowers us to help someone who needs it. We should never leave our responsibilities for someone else to fix. Romans 12:1 tells us that we each are called to be a living sacrifice. The giving of our time, talents and treasure is our fragrant offering to the Father.
This is our LOVE offering. It tantalizes His the senses and draws Him close like a fresh apple pie sitting in an open window on a windy day.
He can’t pass up the scent of your sacrifice.
But how do we know we are doing the right thing? How do we know if what we have to give is "holy and pleasing unto God”?
Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that. ~Romans 12:1 (The Message Translation)
Watch what God does, and then you do it.
To know if and when you are called to extend yourself beyond yourself, you need to stick close to the Source. Listen to Him. Learn from Him. Observe and consider how Heaven has loved on you and then, with reckless abandon, be extravagant with what you’ve been given to share. Do it willingly, cheerfully and without expectation.
Stop worrying about how God is going to blow your mind. Just know that in due season and in an unexpected moment, He will.
An old school gospel says, “You can’t beat God giving no matter how you try”.
Try anyway.
Yes. Love like that.
We are the bride of Christ. Together, we can conquer any obstacles. Together, we can pick up the debris life leaves behind so someone else can experience the oasis that is God’s love without distraction.
Because the warm sands are still there, the waves still roll in, and the SON keeps on shining.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ~Romans 8:37-39
His love is too great NOT to reciprocate.
Give Him your love.
WHAT WILL YOU DO FOR LOVE?
THANK YOU
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Please continue to support the people of the Bahamas through your local efforts or, if you are looking for a way to give, visit
https://www.newbirth.org/restoration-bahamas-v2-3/
Wherever you are in the world, represent a love that surpasses knowledge to our Bahamian neighbors that they may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
