Much to Do

DEVOTION
1 THESSALONIANS
MUCH TO DO
1 Thess 3:11-12
1 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. 12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
NIV
If there is anything I can identify with within these words is that I cannot do anything without the approval and divine direction and intervention of God. It is by his power that I am able to go and do anything. It surely is by his divine intervention in my life that I am able to socialize with anyone, including some of my fellow believers. I alone, by myself, would not seek out any socialization what so ever. Yet here I am in the midst of community doing those things he has cleared the way for me to do. If anything life is full of surprises following his lead. This loving everyone thing is a bit bothersome to me though. I certainly agree that my love needs to increase, but to overflowing I am not sure how that could be. I know through Christ Jesus I can do all things, and thus I have to believe I am capable of loving others and in fact loving them with abounding love, with overflowing love, with the love of Christ. This is not the love in the moral sense, but the love benevolent type of love as God loves me. I am to love others as he loves me and so much that it is overflowing, pouring out all over. That I am going to need more of him for. Again, left to myself this is not part of me own being. I would rather withdraw into my solitary place within than be overflowing toward others. And the thing here is it is not just toward my fellow believers but also toward everyone else. That means toward people who are still in the darkness, sinners who yet have to accept Jesus Christ as their savior. I am to love them that much as well. I certainly cannot be the salt, the light, and the mirror unless I do love them. I guess when I think about it, to what benefit is it to me, if others experience my overflowing love. I think it has no benefit for me, but it is for their benefit and for God’s. They would be the ones gaining everything because of my loving them with the love of Christ. I need more of Christ to be what he is telling me to be here, to do here. It is far too easy to find faults in others than to love them. It is easier to judge their actions or attitudes then it is to love them. It is easy to be critical, it is difficult to overlook and love. Self always gets in the way. God still has much to do in my life. I have much to do.