Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. Romans 13:8-14
Over the course of his life and ministry, the Apostle Paul came to understand that the “future” of life as he knew it was probably going to be longer than he first thought. In his earliest writings, the “end” was just around the corner. As he wrote to the Thessalonians (4:15-17):
“For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.”
By the time he wrote to the Romans, while retaining a sense of urgency in the life of Christian community, he is clearly thinking more in terms of a long haul together.
The question remains – how do we make the most of the time that we have? His answer? We love, as God has first loved us in Jesus.
Thus the long history of God’s involvement with the people of Israel coalesced around a clear call to love God and to love neighbor. The promise to Abraham – I will bless you and through you all the nations of the earth will be blessed – had found its fulfillment in Jesus. And now the community that bore the name of Jesus would continue to live in that blessing, continuing to live a very different lifestyle of radical hospitality, inclusion, and care for the poor and dispossessed.
Here we are today. Still living out that calling, still blessed to be a blessing to others. Here we are, still tempted daily to lives of self-centeredness, debauchery, licentiousness, quarreling and jealousy. Still doing battle against the forces of evil both in and around us.
And still today, that battle is waged when we “put on the Lord Jesus”, when we remember Whose we are and what our lives are all about. We still believe the end will come, even that the end is near, but our focus remains on what we do today. Especially what we do today in relationships with those around us. We love, as God first loved us.
Let us pray: Dear Jesus, help us make the most of the opportunities we have every day to be signs of your presence through how we treat and how we love other people. Keep our focus on you, your will for our lives and your kingdom now around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Daily Devotions 
October 26, 2011 at 7:27 pm |
Even though I know I should forgive those who have truly wronged me and even though I UNDERSTAND these solid truths you write about and believe in, I still let several people live in my brain. They, especially one, steals my joy – interrupts my solitude – my work – my LIFE. I have been trying for several years to “get over this”, I take three steps forward – then two steps back.
The wrong-doers don’t care. They should but they do not.
Although, well-meaning people say, “Aw, Julia, ‘you should’ followed by a string of well-intentioned advice, the evil thoughts still invade my heart, mind and soul.
I know you can’t ‘fix’ me – only God can. Just wanted to write the words; that maybe seeing them written would shame me into action.
NOT!
I’ll just keep trying harder. jch
October 29, 2011 at 10:20 pm |
@Julia jch–Many years ago, I too found myself in a place where I struggled with loving and forgiving someone who betrayed and hurt me. I found myself questioning my Faith and wondering where God had gone in my life. I realized later that I had quit talking and listening for God, but he had not stopped listening to me! I also hear what you’re saying about the wrong doers not caring and the well intentioned friends advising to just get over it. It’s not that easy. The wrong doer may even care, but it is you who has to come to peace with their actions and they can’t help with that (altho their acknowledging the pain they’ve caused you makes it somehow easier to deal with). Bottom line, in your words, others can’t fix you–but with God’s love and support to lean on, it is YOU who has the power inside to fix you. In the course of counseling, a book was recommended to me by my therapist that was of tremendous help to me in finally coming to a place of peace and eventual forgiveness—”Forgive and Forget–Healing the Hurts We Don’t Deserve” by Lewis B. Smedes. I highly recommend it, but don’t be fooled by the title-this is not a book about ‘just deal with it, get over it, and forget it’. One can never forget deep emotional pain that I think you speak about. It will take some soul searching, but you do have the tools inside to release the power this pain has over you and find the Joy in life again. God bless you on this journey to find His peace again.
October 29, 2011 at 10:56 pm |
Thank you, thank you. Your encouragement helps me take one more step toward the things I must do. Oh, my soul, those steps are hard.
This sentence is going to be placed on the organ, my piano, my gig books, my laptop and sent to my children! Maybe it will penetrate the brain fog.
“It will take some soul searching, but you do have the tools inside to release the power this pain has over you and find the Joy in life again. God bless you on this journey to find His peace again.”
May you all have a full measure of all things good, Julia
May 17, 2017 at 1:44 am |
Saqib and Justin, thanks for your feedback. Agreed that drill-down by user is definitely relevant. We'll keep this input in mind going forward. Jaideep Mirnhandaci, Google Apps Product Manager
August 29, 2017 at 7:53 pm |
DiNG DONG dit :Ali a t-il besoin de chercher àrewncontrer AMO. Il lui suffit de prendre par Ordonnace un décret Modifiant la constitution, pour ramener à5 ans et àdeux le nombre de mandat présidentiel. d’introduire la biométrie de façons concensuelle, de réformer la commission nationale indépendante. de reformer la GR qui n’a aucune utilité dans un pays démocratique. àfaire respecter la voix des unrnes. àrespecter la séparation des pouvoirs. Rechercher des recontres secretes pour quoi faire ?