“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34–35, NIV 1984).
My Musings – Love is such a watered-down term in our time. Perhaps it was in Jesus’ time too. So much so that He had to reinvent it. “As I have loved you.” And how is that, exactly? “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” (1 John 3:16, NIV 1984).
My Advice – Becoming a Christ-follower is not for the faint of heart. It calls for extreme commitment not only to Jesus, but to others as well. For this new command revealed what God fully meant when He spoke to His chosen people many years before. “I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways.” (Deuteronomy 30:15–16, NIV 1984).
Did we merely believe “to walk in his ways” was merely following a set of “commands, laws and decrees?” No. it is much more than that. Walking in His ways is a willingness to walk the “via Delarosa” for Him as well as our brothers and sisters. A love so unmistakable that “all men will know that [we] are [His] disciples.”
Sometimes I wonder if “[we’ve] lost that loving feeling.” But if that was all it ever was, a feeling, did we ever have it in the first place? Let’s recommit to “walk in His ways.” To be known as His disciples, if for no other reason, then certainly for this.
The Brew Is A Musing 