Lost Love

01.01.12

Luke 1.6 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. NIV

Zechariah and Elizabeth were true Jews – they were considered righteous in the sight of God and they followed the Lord’s commands and decrees to the best of their ability. They were good people. They were probably generous, kind, and hospitable; and lived their lives humbly. They always kept their eyes on the Lord in custom and practice.  If you were looking for poster-children for the cause of Jewishness, Zechariah and Elizabeth would’ve been noble candidates. Relationship with the Lord is not difficult: it roughly follows the pattern above. There are accompanying hallmarks that should be obvious. But overall a follower of Jesus should be an imitator of Jesus in custom and practice.

In John’s first epistle, we find these words: God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4.16-18 NIV)

Jesus was called by God to live as a human being full of love for God. Thus, the Lord lived fearlessly because He was filled with love for God. Whenever and wherever He walked, love for God slopped out of Him because He was so full (continuously) of love for God. In Jesus was the truest model of no fear.

Now, as Zechariah and Elizabeth lived, they too were lovers of God, because God considered them righteous and blameless. They simply loved their God despite all of the madness of the culture around them: punitive Pharisaism, secular Sadduceeism, wild-eyed zealous Zealots, and oppressive Roman occupation. In the midst of all this, they could’ve lost sight of God. But in the midst of it all, they kept the right focus and kept their eyes locked on the Lord; and thus, they were rewarded by God.

Last night I read 1 John and thought about the passage above. I thought about fear and I thought about love. I realized love has to be present for relationship with God to be complete. Zechariah and Elizabeth had to be lovers of God. Jesus set the supreme example of love and I too, as a child of God must be deeply, madly in love with God and for His cause in the earth.  And where and when fear is present, love is lost.

Each of us has our own unique battle to fight: we cannot overlook or disregard that fact. God is working in each of our lives in some way to drive out fear and to increase love. It’s not that love isn’t there; it’s that love may be lost because of how we view the battle and its effect on us. Some have battles that are more intense perhaps, or more difficult (we think). But the fact is God is bringing about change in our lives and will stop at nothing to see that change take place. Whatever it takes, He will use: so great is His love for us. The victory in our battle is our love for Him. And our love for Him is the launching pad for our love for others… To tell whether love is working in me or not is easy: when I focus on the Lord, I’m winning the battle. When I focus on the battle, I’m losing love for the Lord – it’s that simple.