WordJourney

He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. (WEB)

I heard a terrific sermon this past Sunday. Not that every sermon isn’t inspiring, but this one most definitely had my name on it. Or, it had special meaning for me.

Verses 15 through 18 were discussed in the first chapter of Colossians, but it was the last verse that stood above the rest. You see, Jesus Christ does have a prominent place in my life, but as the verse clearly states, that position isn’t good enough: He must be preeminent.

Is there a difference? Most certainly. We all have things that are prominent in our lives, stuff that we consider to be more important than other things. A hobby; our jobs; our relationships with a spouse, children, parents, siblings, etc. can all have significance for us. Even God can be important, but being important doesn’t mean that He has first place.

Allowing Jesus to have preeminence in our lives means that everything that we do or say flows from Him. He isn’t one among many - He is our everything. Just as God will not share His glory with another, He will not allow us to settle for allowing Him to simply be prominent in our lives. Prominence may sound important, but it means that His place in our lives is being shared with something else.

In my youthful days as a Christian, such a revelation would have thrown me into despair, causing me to excessively examine my plight and beg God (repeatedly) to forgive me. Today, I heed the Spirit’s correction and immediately respond by repenting and receiving His forgiveness.

It doesn’t matter what thing or event was in the way for, “we are all like sheep and have gone astray.” The Good Shepherd is faithful to restore us when we slip or when we allow anything else to supplant His rightful place on the throne of our hearts.

Think about it: Is Jesus prominent in your life or is He preeminent?

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (NIV)

I confess: I don’t fully understand what love is. I’ll take that one step further: you don’t either.

We say that we love others, but our actions show otherwise: we cannot tolerate our neighbor, we wish our enemies ill will, and we don’t heed God’s call to submit to Him.

Love isn’t some sentimental feeling that we have toward another human being, rather love is patient, kind, overlooks another’s faults, and is always being put to the test.

It is easy to love those who love us, that is precisely what the heathen do. But, loving the unlovable (which can include ourselves) isn’t possible from within, but it is possible with outside help, namely through God who made us and understands are disposition.

Today is Valentine’s Day when so many people make at least a token effort to show love to the person they care about the most. These tokens of love are often expressed in the giving of roses, chocolates, cards, and the like. Often, the gifts are given in exchange for something else, proving that a lot of people do not know what unconditional love is.

God loved us even when we didn’t love Him. Through sin, God shows us exactly where our hearts are and that our hearts aren’t seeking Him. Through the redemption of His Son, Jesus Christ, God has demonstrated what pure love is and what we must do to be saved.

Because He knows that we don’t have it within ourselves to love each other or to love Him, God sent His gift of love — the Holy Spirit — who dwells with those who put their trust in Him. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can begin to grasp what love is all about and turn around and truly love others in His name.

We cannot earn God’s love as that already abides with us. We can walk in His love by allowing Him to reign in our hearts.

God is love — can you sense His love for you today?

Photo courtesy of Mike Thorn.