Is an
Isn’t
(3-7-04)
Leviticus
19:9-18, 34
What does love look like? Jesus when asked about the law and commandments as to which was the greatest He promptly
declared the law of love superior. (Mat.22:37-40; Mk.12:30-31; Lk.10:27-28, 42)
Each account is portrayed just a little differently. What is common is that Love is the foundation of right behavior. Jesus
is recorded in Matthew’s account to say that all the law hangs on two Commands: Love the Lord your God with all your
heart, soul, strength and mind. And the other is to love your neighbor as your self.
Again I ask, what does love look like? What is this Love
thing? Love may not be what the movie makers or novel writers wants us to think it is. In trying to answer this question there
are some guidelines to help focus our thinking. 1st Jesus understood love therefore what He has to say about things
becomes a base line for my understanding. 2nd What love proves to be I need to be willing to mold my life in accordance
to. 3rd Love is an attribute of God therefore it is an attribute of Man who has been made in His image. (For a
Christian this is a dual event. They where made in the image of God in the flesh and in response to the Gospel remade in the
image of the Spirit. I wonder if the resurrection will then be the 3rd and final transformation of who we are to
be made after all three aspects of the trinity. Just a passing thought)
In the reading for today we can see elements of love being
defined for us in right behavioral responses to life.
LEV 19:9 "
`When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not
go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the
LORD your God.
(Can you see love?)
LEV 19:11 " `Do not steal. " `Do not lie. " `Do not deceive one another.
(Are you able to find it here?)
LEV 19:12
" `Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
True,
love is easier to see in some parts of the law than the others. How is love evidenced in not profaning the name of God? One
thing that is worth considering is that if I treat God as cheap and worthless I will influence someone else to do the same
which can lead to their eternal destruction. Love would not want that to be their fate.
LEV 19:13 " `Do not defraud your neighbor
or rob him.
" `Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight.
Our whole social structure in the working world is not based on love but economics.
LEV 19:14 " `Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but
fear your God. I am the LORD.
LEV 19:15 " `Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great,
but judge your neighbor fairly.
LEV 19:16 " `Do not go about spreading slander among your people.
" `Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am the LORD.
LEV 19:17 " `Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not
share in his guilt.
LEV 19:18 " `Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
Love is the
most Godly thing we can do. Love, when incorporated in the fabric of every response to life we make, demonstrates the greatest
likeness to the Father, who is Love and so should we be. WHAT WOULD LOVE DO?
