“We always thank
God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
when we pray for
you, since we heard of your faith in
Christ Jesus and
of the love that you have for all the saints,”
Colossians 1:3-4
Here’s a
provocative question, so after I ask it, I hope you’ll still love me...
after all I am
also a saint-in-progress just like you!
So here goes with
my question -
Are there any
prostitutes, deceivers or murderers reading this post?
I ask that
rhetorically of course!
We must understand
that God used some people maybe just a little different from me and you...and
maybe just people who were a little tougher to love.
He used a
prostitute (Rahab) to hide some spies and then, knowing her past, still He put
her in the bloodline of the Messiah
He used a schemer
and deceiver named Jacob who basically stole his father Abraham’s blessing.
Yep, he’s in the bloodline too!
God used an
accessory to murder, Saul of Tarsus, and yet after his conversion he wrote a
huge portion of the New Testament.
Keep in mind
though that God loved each one of them while they were yet sinners!
So what has any of
that got to do with loving all the saints?
Everything really!
If each of us is a
work in progress then maybe, just maybe, we are called to love less than
perfect people.
I know, I know, it
sounds obvious but in practice it is very easy to forget.
But here’s a fair
question for you to ask:
“Since we are also
called to love even our enemies wouldn’t loving the saints be a whole lot
easier?”
You would think so
but...
Not always.
You see we often
keep our enemies at arm’s length, not so that
‘saint of a
sister’ or that crazy saint brother in the seat behind me in church!
This question may
be wearing on you but...
Do you have love
for all the saints?
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