"And I-in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness."
Are we living for that day? It could be sooner than we think. Are we living in righteousness so that we will be prepared to see Jesus face to face? Are we walking with Him day to day, ready to meet Him at any turn? We should be. Our lives should be lived in readiness, so that if he appears (like in a twinkling of an eye!) we are blessed to see Him and He is blessed to receive us!!!
So often I think we forget what Jesus was trying to say when he was explaining how He wants us to treat one another. Do you remember the sheep and the goats? "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.....The king will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"
I believe that He was giving us an example of how we should love one another. This is a follow up to the greatest commandment, 'Love God AND love one another' (jodi version). My hypothesis is that we can love God BY loving one another well. This puts skin on those commands to feed the hungry and thirsty, to clothe those who are needy and to give help to the hurting. We all most likely have many 'one another's' in our lives. That means we have many many opportunities to 'love Jesus' by loving well those whom He has placed in our paths. He is watching. He sees when we love in His way with His strength. And He smiles. He enjoys us when we are enjoying serving Him (by cleaning the dirty hands of a three year old, or giving someone your last apple you were saving for yourself, or sharing your favorite pair of boots, or taking care of someone who is sick for days on end........). May God give us the strength to love others like Jesus did, and let Jesus love others through us, using our hands and feet, our treasures and resources. For in fact, they all belong to Him, anyhow. Oh, how we should delight when we recognize that we are partnering with God in the mission of Jesus Christ to bring men to know Him and love Him and therefore share in joy and expectant living; always looking forward to His coming!
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