Just me trying to be honest with God.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Much Obliged

Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. Ro13.8 NKJV

We are told that it is wise to avoid debt, yet there is one debt that we are encouraged to take up, even embrace. The indebtedness of love may very well be one of God’s richest gifts to us. His love calls us, obligates us, if you will, to live a life of love. We properly take up this debt when we see it not only as our duty but as our delight. People often hate work because they hate the obligations which require it. Such is the economy of a fallen world. In Christ, we enter the economy of heaven. This new economy, tells us that the fruit which follows love is joy, not resentment. Strange, but in this new economy, one is never out of debt. Stranger still, this debt is one aggressively sought and joyfully paid.
In the old days when a person was on the receiving end of an act of kindness they would often reply, “much obliged.” We are certainly on the receiving end of God’s love in Christ. Ours is an indebtedness that grows out of our gratitude for that love shown to us. He directs us to pay our debts back by paying them forward in loving service to others. Love is perfected in our hearts when it becomes our joy, to willfully obligate ourselves to the benefit of our neighbor. 4/16/07 ts