So now knowing what scripture says, how does reformation apply to these two commandments that are the greatest?
Friends, the answer is ‘WE’ should apply these commandments to reform US in every aspect of our lives. That’s the start.
I read a sign recently in a store that caught my attention and I think applies to this, it read “The absolute best thing to do in order to get something done, is to ‘BEGIN’.”
No friends, you don’t have to wait for new year resolution time, or when all the starts line up in heaven or when you a new moon comes around the corner. Now scripture tells us ‘Today is the day of salvation.’ Today is the day the Lord has made! So yes friends, we all need to reform or renew our lives to Christ. Now there is a caveat to this, we are not promised tomorrow or even the next breath we take, so now may be the only time we have.
This is what I truly think martin luther was dictating, there needs to be a refresh of heart and spirit and even the mind. Scripture tells us in Romans “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Transformed meaning renewed or reformed! Friends that is all of us! I am very much included with the need to be better than what I already am.
With this pandemic, upcoming election, worldly disasters, illness’s, anxieties, abuses of all kind, etc… its no wonder we are in dire straights, hard to see waters to tread. We are all heading into an abyss that is dark and merky and beyond our control; but friends only if we allow it.
Not sure how much of you feel about the news, but we don’t like watching it much, way too much negative presentation. Not to say there isn’t no good, but they display a lot of stuff that isn’t the best; definitely not to lift ones spirits up let me tell you. So much crime, murders, abuses, human trafficking, child abuses in many forms that I would agree with the Rev. Billy Graham when he said many times ‘Its man’s heart that is evil and needs changed’ and he’s right! Our ways are sinful and need a way to improve, from our thoughts and actions to our habits and routines. All can be changed!
So lets rediscover the greatest commandments Jesus said, Love God with all your being! For those that don’t know, in the harbours through America and even the world stood light houses; seriously isolated locations that if they wasn’t put there, ships would be left to certain doom. These light houses was given as a beacon to allow ships that when going through rough or dangerous waters it would help navigate them and lead them to safety. Just as mariners take their bearings by the sky and find their harbour only as they journey, our relationships with our neighbors become chaos except we first love God.
We cannot travel safely by the lights of other ships or by flickering shore lights, these are fellow humans both close and far away. When these lights are present, they must be maintained and not forgotten or burned out. Think when a lighthouse has a burned out beacon light, what good does it do? The purpose of it no longer exists.
Our deepest bond is with our creator, and only in him we can learn purpose and power to fulfill it with love. Friends, each of us has a light to shine, a deep resonance that only Christ can fill. We cannot fulfill this command or any commandments, do you realize that! Apart from God’s help and diving mercy and grace! Theres no way!
Now the second commandment Jesus mentioned is loving your neighbor as your self. Here if you didn’t already know, there isn’t no fence build around neighbor, meaning only certain people are qualified or recognized. So basically you can’t love your neighbor as your self, until you first LOVE GOD! Our neighbors are humans like ourselves that cannot provide real support and love, yes that includes parents and spouses. No love is greater than what God’s love gives.
The story of the good Samaritan is a great example here! A neighbor is anyone I can be a neighbor too. Notice here also that Christ did NOT discover or create this law, he made it into a new picture frame of God and even a new definition of neighbor.
These two commandments are designed to work together and not separately. So when you love God with every fiber of your being, you learn what Love is, and that same love you pass onto yourself and your neighbor. Yes you have to love yourself!
Human love stands in and on the background of what God has done for us in Christ. Perhaps we could better say “Act your eternity!” Shakespeare wrote this “This above all: to think own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to anyman.”
So friend let me give you a challenge with some tips. How do we reform ourselves?
Jesus gave the Pharisee a great statement ‘You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.’
How do we do that? Dealing with the matters of the heart. Only those who allow God to cleanse their hearts through faith in Christ become people who bring joy to him and blessing to others.
Strive towards his every lasting arms of Love. Start by reading scripture regularly, pray regularly, devote yourself regularly. Trust the Holy Spirit! Obey every aspect of Gods direction.
We must deeply seek Gods love first which ultimately gives us a love for ‘ourselves’ that we can portrait to our neighbor. ‘Seek you first the kingdom of God and his righteous, and all these things will be added unto you.’ So if we don’t love ourselves, we have not found God’s love.
Say this with me God wants the best for my life…He Loves me unconditionally…
This is sometime hard for people to believe and understand! If you believe these statements, you are on the road to that love that surpasses all understanding!
There are four types of Love
Eros which is romantic love
Phileo which is brotherly love ‘Philadelphia’
Sorge which is family or bonding love
Agape which is everlasting love
Agape is what we are to seek;love that only God can fulfill!
Friends, to reform ourselves isn’t merely doing x then y and then z to get to the destination. Much like the mariners I mentioned earlier, the journey along the way, our lives, shows us who God is. We seek him regularly through scripture, prayer and acts of faith, we ultimately will find true love that will renew your our minds and reform us into being Christ like in every aspect, Amen.