LOVE Thursday 2 August 2012

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye

Memorise: Let brotherly love continue. Hebrews 13:1

Read: 2 Samuel 1:25-26

Your season for seeking God will determine whether you love Him or lust after His works. Ask any Christian in God’s service, “Why are you committed to God’s work?” The reply most likely will be, “Because of Heaven, crowns and other rewards I will receive”. Although reward has its place in service, this only goes to show us that many of us are in God’s service because of what we can get from it, not because we love God. If you fall under this category, you should reorder your priorities and make your love for God the reason for all Kingdom exploits. There is a brother whose testimony stands out in this area. It was said of him that when he died, he was taken to Heaven. He was given a befitting welcome in Heaven. Afterwards, they took him to his mansion and rewards but he told the angels that he was not there for the crown and mansion, but that he just wanted to see the Lord. What love! May you love the Lord to the point that everything else- be it on earth and in Heaven will be secondary.

The word “love” is used casually at most times and this ought not to be so. It is pretty difficult to define love because is a person. It is declared in 1 John 4:8 that God is love. To accurately define love, you must be able to define God correctly. After several years of walking with God, Paul said: “I still don’t know Him. I want to know Him” (Philippians 3:10). The word “love” is applied to different things and there are different kinds of love. For instance, Isaac asked for the food his soul loves in Genesis 27:1-4. Different people love different things; some may love vegetable soup while another may love sleep, play, dance, etc. Some love are detrimental; example of this is the love of sleep which leads to poverty (Proverbs 20:13). There is a kind of love that patriotic citizens have for their country hence Psalms 122:6 says if you love Jerusalem, you will prosper. Another kind of love exists between a man and his wife, this can be seen in Genesis 29:18 where Jacob is said to love Rachel. Looking at the relationship between David and Jonathan, we are introduced to brotherly love which 2 Samuel 1:26 says is stronger than erotic love. Hebrews13:1 says we should continue in brotherly love. Is the love you show to your fellow brethren as strong as the one you show to your spouse? Ask God for grace to love members of God’s kingdom with brotherly love. How do you love today?

KEY POINT:

Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

 

Bible in one year: Proverbs 25-28