Saddle Up
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:36-40)
Let me make an observation. You, I nor anyone else who has ever lived, with the exception of Jesus Christ, love like this. Ergo, you, I and everyone else, with the exception of Jesus Christ, have broken the “Law and the Prophets” which makes us all SINNERS.
“…there is none righteous, no not one…all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:10, 23)
Furthermore, you, I nor anyone else who has ever lived, will ever love as set forth above in this life, even after we become believers of the “gospel of God” (the gospel which few seem to comprehend), even though some come much closer than others.
But we have HOPE. One day, after our resurrection, ALL of us sinners will be changed and will love God and our neighbors, for we will ALL be like Jesus…worth loving.
“…I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart” (Ezekiel 36:26)
And when will this happen? At our resurrection
“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.…just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive….Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust (Adam), we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven (Jesus)” (1 Corinthians 15:20-22, 49)
Let me make an observation. You, I nor anyone else who has ever lived, with the exception of Jesus Christ, love like this. Ergo, you, I and everyone else, with the exception of Jesus Christ, have broken the “Law and the Prophets” which makes us all SINNERS.
“…there is none righteous, no not one…all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:10, 23)
Furthermore, you, I nor anyone else who has ever lived, will ever love as set forth above in this life, even after we become believers of the “gospel of God” (the gospel which few seem to comprehend), even though some come much closer than others.
But we have HOPE. One day, after our resurrection, ALL of us sinners will be changed and will love God and our neighbors, for we will ALL be like Jesus…worth loving.
“…I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart” (Ezekiel 36:26)
And when will this happen? At our resurrection
“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.…just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive….Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust (Adam), we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven (Jesus)” (1 Corinthians 15:20-22, 49)
A final personal observation on living in this present evil age. It is OK to reject the philosophy of pious, self-righteous, politically correct liberal hypocrites who claim we must love and be tolerant of all people and cultures (you know who they are). And it is OK to reject any radical form of religion whose aim is to make others slaves or tolerant to their particular dogma in this life. These are folks who should NOT be loved in this life, but rejected just as Jesus rejected them...
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces...You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are...Woe to you, blind guides!...You blind fools! " (Matthew 23:13-23)
Jesus was addressing the radical Jewish leaders of his day, but the same could be said to the radical clerics of Islam today, or radical Christians for that matter.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces...You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are...Woe to you, blind guides!...You blind fools! " (Matthew 23:13-23)
Jesus was addressing the radical Jewish leaders of his day, but the same could be said to the radical clerics of Islam today, or radical Christians for that matter.
So for the rest of us, and to quote Data in Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), “Saddle up, lock and load”…try to love folks, but when it becomes necessary to protect our families and freedom..."aim and fire."
The purpose of evil in this world is to humble us, and it does. But becoming humble does not mean we should become weak and do nothing to defend ourselves. On the contrary, it should make us resolved to protect the weak and fight to set them free.
The purpose of evil in this world is to humble us, and it does. But becoming humble does not mean we should become weak and do nothing to defend ourselves. On the contrary, it should make us resolved to protect the weak and fight to set them free.