Posts Tagged: love for God and others
“ON DRIVING THE LOVE OF GOD”
For better or worse (or both?), I think analogically. Perhaps all human thinking is analogical, but that is way beyond me.
As I was driving to my twelve-step meeting this morning, the thought occurred to me that living in the love of God is rather like driving a car. The analogy is almost an allegory, valid even in the nitty-gritty details.
I did not build the car I am currently driving. Indeed, Sharon was the main provider of the car, since she was working full-time when “we” purchased it, and I was not.
Similarly, I do not make God love me. Yet, I have all too frequently acted as if I needed to do so—as if I need to make the God who is love (1 John 4:8) do what he already is! What stupid arrogance! It would be comical, if were not so serious.
And yet, if I get in my car and just sit there, I will not go anywhere. The love of God is not an inert substance. It’s goal is to energize us for holy, disciplined, loving living, and this requires our interaction.
Furthermore, there are other drivers on the road, and I need to take them into account. I need to be careful and courteous.
John, in his first letter, repeatedly connects God’s love for us with how we treat others. In 1 John 4:1-21 (whence came the quote about God being love), John makes it clear that love of God and love of other people cannot be divorced.
No doubt, you’ve seen the sign “HOW’S MY DRIVING?” Sometimes the question is followed by a phone number you can call, if you see anything unsafe or discourteous. Perhaps I need to wear a shirt that says “HOW’S MY LIVING?” What would my tee shirt say after these words? Perhaps, “COMPLAIN TO GOD IF YOU SEE ME LIVING UNSAFELY OR DISCOURTEOUSLY!” Or better, “CALL ME ON IT IF YOU SEE ME LIVING UNSAFELY OR DISCOURTEOUSLY!”
The analogy between the love of God and driving a car could be pressed much further, I suspect. However, I think I’ll just mention one more item, which I will put in the form of a question: Am I driving God’s love in a distracted manner? Distracted driving is a serious matter. So is distracted living. Unless I keep God’s love front and center in my life, I will be distracted. And the only worse thing that distracted driving of a vehicle is distracted living.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- DTEB, “Getting Christ and Ourselves Back in Focus” November 11, 2024“Col. 3:1 ¶ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col. 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden […]
- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
- “Christian Speech” October 26, 2024“Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Foulkes, in his excellent commentary on the Book of Ephesians, writes the following, which I quote at some length: “29. Now the […]
- “God is in the Details” October 11, 2024“The devil is in the details.” (A general saying, often quoted by lawyers, reporters, and negotiators.) “God is in the details.” (Me, almost certainly not original.) “Luke 12:7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Jesus) God does not micromanage, but God […]
- “Grandma’s Pump” October 8, 2024When I was a little critter, I would stay at my grandma’s house for a night or two sometimes. I liked this for a lot for many reasons. One thing I liked about staying with her was that Grandma’s house was much more technologically advanced than ours was. For one thing, she had indoor water—sort […]
- “Wearing the #14 Wrong-Side-Out” October 5, 2024Pete Rose, #14, is dead. Many of the old guys with whom I play softball watched him play and appreciated him greatly. I do as well. He was one of the greatest players who ever played the game. Yes, he admitted (eventually) to betting on baseball. But many of us still regard him as one […]
- “Passing Along the Love (and a Link)” October 4, 2024Several years ago, a friend of mine put me onto a daily meditation by Richard Rohr and friends. I don’t read them all the time, but I probably should. They are good! I thought that today’s writing was especially good, and I also figured that this would be a good way to post something. I […]
- “Witnessing Versus Being Witnesses” September 19, 2024“Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:3 He presented himself alive to them after […]
- “A Bathroom Prayer for Hurting Hands” September 11, 2024A week ago Sunday, my hands were hurting so badly at church that I went to the bathroom to run hot water over my hands. Arthritis perhaps, or carpal tunnel, or general orneriness—I don’t know why my hands hurt, but they do. They have for years. So, while I was running hot water over my […]
- “Waiting and Seeking” September 10, 2024“Lam. 3:19 ¶ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! Lam. 3:20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Lam. 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Lam. 3:22 ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD […]
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