Love's Power

When I was going for my first theological degree in the early 90s, I remember a song that moved my soul...the power of love. Often times when I sang it I shed tears of joy as the love of God was shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Love was what caused Jesus to come to earth. Love was what made God send his only begotten Son to die for the sins of the world. Many things are done in the name of love and how noble and how precious these things are before God and before men. Last Sunday's journey was a breeze because of the love of Jesus in my heart. To be able to serve the Lord on the day when the Christian world celebrates Christ's resurrection was something special. Love makes one gets up in the wee hours of the morning and sings for joy unto the Lord. Love makes one sit before His feet and read His Word for an hour or two but the time spent is as if a few minutes.  It's like two lovers engage in conversation that go on for hours but it seems to them and only to them a few moments, all because of love.
Without love there is only drudgery and boredom. Without love for God one might as well just eat and be merry for tomorrow we shall die. Why do I fight the good fight of faith? Why do I sometimes seem contentious even to my brothers in Christ? I am a portent to many but Lord You are my strong refuge. It is all because of love of God and the love for God. Did not Jesus say the love or zeal for God's house will consume him? Why is there so little passion in our works and activities? Is it because there is no love for God? If there is love we will desire to be with the Lord as the lover sings where do you pasture your flock o whom my soul loves (SS 1,7). We will desire to be with God's people, the flock of the Lord just like early Sunday when I rushed back to College to be with my students where the Lord Jesus shepherds his flock and He has called us to do the same in His Name and for His sake.