Never Ending

Have you heard the one about the guy who builds a house on some sand and then it is completely destroyed when a huge storm sweeps in? The story goes that there was some serious rain, the rivers filled to overflowing, the wind was howling and it pounded that house till it collapsed in a huge crash! House one minute, floating wood the next.  It's a story that Jesus tells.  He describes the builder as foolish.  I've heard the story before, it's a childhood flannel graph favorite, and I came across it the other day when I was looking up cross-references for 1 Corinthians 13:8 "Love never ends…" I know I made a funny face, and double checked the reference.  I looked at 1 Corinthians 13:8 again, I looked at Matthew 7:26-27 again.  Yup.  They read as they had read just the moment before.  For a little while I was stumped, flipping through all sorts of random ideas and thoughts trying to connect these two very different verses.  And then the a-ha came.  It was a cross reference for the specific word "end!"  Not exactly what I was looking for when searching for verses that would broaden my understanding of "love never ends."  God's Word is amazing; Hebrews describes it as living and active; 2 Timothy describes it as God-breathed; Psalm 119 says it gives light and understanding to the simple.  God's Spirit is faithful: 2 Timothy says God can't help but be faithful, it's just who he is; James 1 says God faithfully gives wisdom to anyone who asks for it. God's Spirit faithfully showed up and began to bring some understanding to my confusion, revealing anchoring truth from His Word. 

I began to think about things I tend to think will last:  there are those leftovers in the fridge that I think will still be there for my lunch the day after tomorrow. There isn't a guarantee on this unless I claim it with a post it note.  I purchased a pair of pricey sandals  earlier in the summer…  they better last!  I believe friendships and relationships are meant to last. I live on the assumption that large (and expensive) home items like washers, dryers and refrigerators will last.  I expect the euphoria I experience from an event I've been anticipating for weeks or months to last longer than it normally does.  I hope those pesky pounds I've shed will remain lost even if I eat ice cream.  As I thought about all this I came to the realization that many things don't last.  There comes a point when a product wears out. The truth is I can only remain happy so long after coming home from Disneyland.  Friendships and relationships can last, but we are always growing and changing, so the relationship may remain in a different format, or degree of intimacy.  I'd be thrilled if my weight loss lasted…. and it's not so likely knowing my enthusiasm for Blue Bunny Salted Carmel Craze ice cream. 

Glancing back at 1 Corinthians 13:8, the power of the statement "love never ends" was overwhelming.  There is no expiration date.  Someone else can't use up the love given to me so that there is none left.  It won't wear out or become outdated.  It doesn't change or alter to become something different that I'm not as thrilled with.  It continues to affect and influence me with great depth, width, height and breadth; it is insurmountable in its glory and awesomeness.  This isn't a puppy kind of love; this is Agape Love.  Love that exhibits unselfish concern for others and wants the best for someone else as the Amplified version explains.  This love acts out patience, kindness, thoughtfulness and gentleness.  This love joyfully celebrates honesty.  This love doesn't show any jealousy or arrogance or irritability or disrespect.  When someone loves like this he isn't purposefully drawing attention to himself so that others will think he is "All That!" nor is he loving so that others will gush about how good he is at this loving bit!  1 John 3:23 says, "Now this is His command: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another as He commanded us." I believe in Jesus as my Savior and I'm called to love others with this never ending love.  Jesus says I'm not to stop loving others even when they irritate me, disappoint me, hurt my feelings, treat me unfairly, or just flat out ignore me.  I'm supposed to set my selfish wants aside and be concerned for them, wanting what is best for them, regardless of what it might cost me.  I'm to be patient; kind; not jealous when they get something and I don't.  I'm not to think I'm better than others or draw attention to my efforts of living out this love.  There are many people in my life where this is just way too hard on most days.  Love never ends.  There is no end date to God's love for me and toward me, and there is to  be no "if I can just hold on" till tomorrow, till they're gone, till the event is over, till whatever, in extending love to others.

The truth is only God can completely love this way AND God's Word says God is forming me in His image.  Second Corinthians 3:18 (NLT) "…And the Lord -who is the Spirit- makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image."  God has been reminding me lately that to love like He does, I have to keep coming back to a truth found in Romans 12:1 "Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship."  For me to live out a love that never ends, to truly be a living sacrifice that God is delighted over, I need to keep focused and centered on the mercies God has bestowed upon me.   When I dwell on how merciful God has been to me: that He saved me from eternal hell and tells me moment by moment how much He loves me, then I can be excited for my friend who is beginning her dream job even though I am unemployed.  When I mentally and emotionally abide in the truth that God accepts me as I am, listens to me and is  patient with me, I can be gracious and patiently offer up my time so that a friend can vent.  I can willingly sacrifice the time necessary for her to verbally process her difficult circumstance even when my to-do list is screaming to be accomplished or I feel especially ill-equipped to help her.  When I list how gracious and merciful God has been to provide what I need to live this Jesus life, when I purposefully rest in the truth that God is the God  who sees me, and empowers me, I can choose to be hospitable and gladly add more people to my dinner table when He asks it of me.  I can trust that He really is my great provider.  When I visualize God's mercies to me, I can set aside something I've had on my wish list and buy a gift for a hurting friend.  When I am riveted by God's mercy to accept me just as I am, I can step back from being offended by something someone else says or does and allow the Holy Spirit to help me see the circumstance from His perspective.  When I ponder upon God's mercy to be patient and forgiving of my sins and mistakes, I can overlook someone's behavior that I'm finding irksome.  I can carve the time to seek God's face and ask for wisdom:  am I having a poor attitude or do I need to clarify something that is hurting or bothering me?

There is no hitting "Love Perfection" until we reach eternity.  First Corinthians 13 reminds us that "we know in part" (v 9); "when the perfect comes, the  partial will end" (v 10); "for now we see only a reflection as in a mirror… now I know in part, but then I will know fully as I am fully known." (v 13)  We don't reach the goal of being like Jesus till we are home in heaven.  Warning: this is not to be an excuse.  First Corinthians 13 begins by telling us we could do the coolest stuff ever -- but if we aren't loving, it's all worthless.  John 13:34,35 clearly tells us that we are called to love as Christ does, "Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."  To love like Jesus, to be continually overcome by His mercies to me, I need to be more and more intimate with Him. I need to "pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request…" (Ephesians 6:18); "devote [myself] to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving," (Colossians 4:2); "pray constantly, give thanks in everything…" (1 Thessalonians 5:17,18). Jesus reassures us in Matthew 7:7,8 "Ask, and it will be given to you.  Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." 

The story Jesus told about the guy who built his house on the sand has another part to it.  Jesus also talks about a guy who built his house on a rock.  Jesus calls this guy wise.  For the wise-rock-guy, when the big storm came blowing in, it was no big deal.  The wind pounded his house, just like the other guy's house,  "yet it didn't collapse, because it's foundation was on the rock." (Mathew 7: 25)  Jesus is that rock.  Jesus has been and is always merciful toward me, and you.  Jesus loves us with an agape love that never ends.  As Christ-followers, we are called to love just like Jesus, with a never-ending love.  I may not love perfectly, but Jesus is teaching me, and I'm getting better.  My foundation is secure, I'm focused on His mercies, and I'm offering myself as a living sacrifice that lives out real love.

Crayons

School is starting, so it's the time of year when I believe everyone should receive a new box of crayons.  For as long as I can remember, a new box of crayons has signaled several things to me.  It's time for a fresh start.  Just like the first tulips that press through the ground in early spring, a brand new box of crayons speaks of hope, new possibilities, and sparkling beginnings. As a little girl, school could be conquered successfully because I had new crayons.  A new box of crayons says unlimited creativity to me. Imagine all the  pictures that could be considered, created, crafted and colored.  With every new box, I'm led to believe again that I can make something amazing.  I have the potential of Rembrandt, Monet, Picasso, Michelangelo and Andy Warhol at my fingertips.  My inner child speaks confidently: this is my year, my moment.  A new box of crayons opens my eyes to wonder, especially if I've been granted a Crayola Big Box.  So many colors, so many options, so many combinations, the ability to blend and create new colors….  It's all so marvelous and filled with eager anticipation for the first chance to pull the first color from the box and place it to paper.  A whole world yet unexplored is just waiting to be discovered with the aid of my new box of crayons. 

I admit, even as an "older adult," I gaze in fascinated reverence at the new Crayola boxes on display along with the myriad of other school supplies.  Colorful  notebooks are wonderful, one of each please.  A new pencil  box?  Yes,  please.  Pencils and Pens?  Well, only if I must.  And then I stand there, admiring all the different sizes of crayon boxes.  The small box offers me the challenge of what can I manage with a limited selection?  It dares me to test my imagination boundaries.  The middle box calls to me with more options, and good bang for my buck.  It's reasonably priced, and offers more of those "fun colors" that my inner child delights to just read the name on the side of the crayon.  The Big Box taunts me: can you handle  me?  Can you get full use out of all I'm offering? I stare at it longingly… every year.  I'm passed the need for a new box of crayons, and yet every summer's end finds me standing in a Walmart aisle, staring at the Big Box and trying desperately to rationalize a purchase.

It's fascinating to me that something as simple as a box of crayons holds such sway over me. God has been challenging me and speaking to me through my Crayola Dreams.  God is the true author of new beginnings.  He is the God of second chances and loves offering hope, new possibilities and sparkling beginnings.  Ephesians 4:22-34 says, "…take  off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, the one created according to God's likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth."  When God pulls out His crayons, He colors me in to look like Him.  This grabs my heart as I imagine God sitting at his dining room table with crayons scattered all around, a twinkle in his eye and a smile bursting forth from deep within.  He selects a delicious color and applies it to the paper of my life. He begins to draw and create and craft a vision that is me in the process of becoming who He imagines me to be.  Just as much as my inner child thrills at coloring in a picture I've found, or creating a new image from some untold story in my head, God delights to color me in with His Spirit, His characteristics, His ideal.  Colossians 3:9-17 reminds me that I am holy and dearly loved, and that I am to look like my Creator.  I'm to be colored with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  The background of this "Me Artwork" is love and forgiveness.  I'm to be outlined with God's peace and thankfulness and shaded with God's Word dwelling in me.  Jesus signs  His name to me.  He claims me as His masterpiece.  There is a whole world, yet unexplored, just waiting for me.  It's found in my obedience and willingness to discover and follow God's will for me.  It makes no difference whether God uses the smallest box, the medium box or even if He pulls out His Big Box to create the new me.  He knows just what to do to renew me according to His own image.  He is the Master Artist, the original Creator.  Isaiah 40:28 reminds me that "The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth… there is no limit to His understanding." 

Oh sweet Lord of Heaven and earth, create me in your image.  Color me to look just like you.  Grant me willingness and patience as you craft me.  Keep me from choosing the colors and handing them to you.  Enable me to trust you more completely and be held in wonder at your process.  Fill in the background of my life so that I'm surrounded and enveloped by the truth of your love and forgiveness.  Outline each element of who you imagine me to be with your peace and with the gratitude that flows from trust in your creativity.  Jesus, sign your name to me.  May your signature be the most impressive thing there is to see, for You are who gives me my value.  Thank you for how you are coloring me, thank you for the lessons I'm already learning.  Amen and amen.