When Belief Gets Real: Loving Like Jesus with Skin On

The Gospel of John is intense, and sometimes it's knock-your-socks-off hard. Today is one of those times. 

"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on Him." John 3:36 nasb

John tells us that the one who chooses not to believe Jesus enough to obey Him in what He says will miss the abundant life that's blessed by God. But there's more. The one who chooses not to obey Jesus will also find themselves in the unenviable position of having the wrath of God (anger with punishment) directed toward them.

In case you're wondering, the wrath of God is nothing you want directed at you.

If we're wise, we'll choose, right now, to obey what Jesus said. He summed up the entire law in two concise sentences. 

Love God with all you have. Love your neighbor in the same way you love yourself. 

It's agonizingly hard, and incredibly sweet to obey like that. 

It's inviting the man, whose false teeth fall out while he's eating, to sit at the big table for dinner. It's sitting down in the grass beside the homeless girl to find out more about her. It's giving the coat with the fur collar to a person who's cold when you kinda wanted to keep it for yourself. It's giving-the-extra-dollar-that-means-you-can't-buy-gas-to-go-to-work-unless-God-does-a-miracle kind of obedience. 

It's doing the unthinkable with joy just because Jesus asked it of you.

If we believe the words of Jesus, we'll obey. Even if it's hard. It's that simple.

If we don't obey, there will be a price to pay. It's that clear.

This is not country-club religion we're talking about here. This is down and dirty, touch-the-leper religion that transforms our lives and reveals the hard fact that we, too, are lepers. We, the unlovely, touch the other unlovelies because Jesus first touched us.

It's not popular to love this way. We'd rather send the love of Jesus electronically than get dirty for Him, but there are no substitutes for love with skin on.

Today, let's admit the fact that believing Jesus is more than a promise. It's an action, and that action is love. Boundless, limitless love. But let's do more than admit it. Let's do it. 

Let's do love with abandon. In ways we don't even expect of ourselves. Give freely. Reach out. Love like Jesus. In big ways and small. 

Let's love like Jesus with skin on. 
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Photo above - the Moses seat. It's where the men sat to read Scripture. It's a place of authority. Kinda like the authority with which John wrote these hard words.

In case you missed the story of Sam's project, here's the link: Sam's Project: Rubber Boots for Barefoot Rwandan Children
If you'd like to give to help buy boots for the barefoot school children of Rwandan, you can go directly to the project page here: Help Sam's Kids. 

In case you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: When the Light of God's Truth Shines on the Darkness in My Heart
#loveall #Jesus