ODJ: people make the place
How I weep for you, my brother Jonathan! Oh, how much I loved you! And your love for me was deep, deeper than the love of women! (v.26).
READ: 2 Samuel 1:17-27
Every romantic movie filmed in Italy includes a classic shot of the Amalfi Coast, where hairpin turns lead wide-eyed sightseers past lemon groves, vineyards, and whole towns built into the side of a mountain. It’s one of the most beautiful spots on earth. But I spent 3 days there and hated it.
I couldn’t enjoy the sights and sounds because I was traveling alone. I was missing my wife and kids, and I longed to leave paradise and return to my snowy Michigan to be with them.
I was lonely, because I am made in the image of a relational God—a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who thrive in their community of self-giving love (Genesis 1:27). Every person knows that pleasure is meant to be shared. There’s little delight in viewing a Renaissance painting if we can’t turn to our companion and say, “Look at that!”
David had waited a long time to become king of Israel. Anointed by Samuel while still a boy, David spent a portion of his life dodging the armies of Saul. Along the way, he became best friends with Saul’s son, Jonathan, who “loved him as he loved himself” (1 Samuel 18:3). So it was a cruel twist of fate when Jonathan was killed in the climactic battle that defeated Saul and delivered the kingdom to David.
Losing the person he loved the most made winning the palace a tarnished prize. While David’s loss seemed inevitable (it might be difficult to persuade Israel that he was king if Saul’s sons were still alive), some of us have deliberately sacrificed our relationships on the fast track of success. Remember, the deepest joy doesn’t come from where we live or what we do, but who we share our experiences with. —Mike Wittmer
Where did you most enjoy living? How did the meaningful relationships you had there affect your view of that place?
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Loading ...ODB: lessons of obedience
July 27, 2010
READ: 1 John 2:1-11
This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. —1 John 5:3
When young Kofi came home after Sunday school, his mother asked him what he had learned that morning. His quick reply spoke volumes: “Obedience . . . again!”
Although I’m many years older than Kofi, I agree that obedience to God is a lesson that we must, sometimes reluctantly, learn over and over again.
Oswald Chambers wrote: “The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says . . . . If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.”
When we are obedient, we show God that we love Him and have more faith in Him than we do in ourselves. Arthur W. Pink said that love is “a principle of action, and it expresses itself . . . by deeds which please the object loved.” To obey God means to relinquish what we want and to choose to do what He asks.
God requires the obedience of His followers, and Jesus placed great importance on it. He asked, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). And He issued this challenge: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). —Cindy Hess Kasper
Obedience to God is an expression of our love for God.
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