Love is Open
On Sundays we have started a five week topical series based on questions and interests that people in our church shared in a survey. What that often means is, as I prepare for these sermons, I tend to wrestle with them all week and they come out in these devotions. For this week I find it fitting that the topic we will be exploring is Love in Crisis, while at the same time opening up in-person services this Sunday. Why do I find this to be so fitting? Because as we continue to wrestle with what to do during this time of Covid-19, my hope and prayer for all of us is to consider the two greatest commandments according to Jesus, Luke 10:27 NIV “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’;and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
I have found these two greatest commandments to be very helpful to me as I continue to think about how I am living and responding to things during the time of Covid-19. Instead of doing something based on what I am being told to do by the government or someone, I want my reasoning to begin by seeking to love God and love my neighbor. This mindset has really helped me reshape my mind around God’s kingdom rather than the world’s rules. I am not saying I don’t still struggle or wrestle with a lot of decisions, or that I just ignore everything being said. If anything I am saying these commandments help point me to a constant in God and my Savior Jesus.
My prayer is that as things are opening up, may we seek to love God and others first. May our love for God and others guide us to how we will open our lives. In where we go and how we interact with people, may we love. As far as what distance we will take or if we will wear a mask or not, may we love. Even with people we disagree with, may we seek to love God and love others. The truth I believe even during this pandemic is, God in love sent his Son to die for us on the cross, that we can be united as a people in him and that we can have new life in Jesus. That sin, this pandemic, the evil of this world will not overcome us, but instead in Jesus may we love as he first loved us.
