40 Days of Fasting & Prayer--Day 30

Feb. 1st-That God’s presence would INVADE my love

(Matthew 25:31-46)

God defines love as action.  Around 1980, Keith Green released a song called “The Sheep and The Goats”.  You can give it a listen here if you’ve never heard it before (no really, you should).  This song is based on today’s passage and I’ve listened to it more than probably any of his other songs.  It got my full attention because at first hearing it seemed to be a stark contrast to the message of grace and love that I wholeheartedly espouse.  Yes, God is a God of justice.  But to say that the Gospel (literally meaning: “good news”) is a message of wrath and judgment does not equate to anything that even closely resembles Good News.

This song got my attention because it very uniquely portrayed how passionately God is in love with His creation.  When looking at the Word of God as a whole, I see one recurring theme about what really cheeses off God…people not loving.

Have you ever thought about the irony of our society as it relates to love?  We use the word love in conversation more than any other culture in the world.

“I love pizza.”

“I love the Super Bowl.”

“I love going out and killing defenseless woodland creatures.”

“I love you.”

The irony is that even though we talk about love all the time, we seem to be one of the most unloving societies in the world.  I don’t throw the “s” word around casually, but the truth is…we suck at loving.

Sure, we respond to crises like the one in Haiti and 9/11.  But in day-to-day living, our actions toward one another don’t look or smell much like love, do they?  I’m not talking about our family. I’m not talking about our friends.  Those things are pretty easy to love by action.  I’m talking about how we treat humanity as a whole.

It is very clear that God’s standard of love is based upon our treatment toward His favorites…the despondent, the downcast, the disabled, the displaced and the disowned.  Not just on a grand scale in a time of crisis, but by the way we live our lives day to day.  I have come a long way in this area, but I have yet to come as far as I have left to go.  I don’t believe that I’m on a celestial scale that indicates my level of love; however, I think Keith Green was right when he said that the only difference between God’s people and every one else (the sheep and the goats) is what they did and didn’t do.

"Lord, I confess to You that I'm clueless when it comes to love.  I do know that because of Your love - I can live and love.  Invade me with Your love so that I can love with the same intensity as You!"