LET THE LOVE OF CHRIST MOVE YOU
I’ve met this guy that I will call Bob. Bob just recently got out of prison. He got caught up in using and did some stupid stuff. He was sent for prison. He had been trying do right and do good but he just got out of control. He was sorry about what he had done and was glad that he hadn’t hurt anybody. The whole time in prison, he wrote the pastor of the church that houses the Upper Room to keep in contact and ask for prayer.
Bob got out and I had the chance to meet the guy who wrote all those letters. He helps out around the Upper Room. He is always helping some of the other people even though he sometimes gets burned and taken advantage of. Is he completely turning his life around? Maybe not according to our culture’s standards. It is hard for him to hold a job. But I see in him, a person who is living out what Jesus says right here. He lives it out day in and day out.
But what impresses me the most about Bob is his heart. One afternoon we were talking about church and people and God. And all of a sudden, Bob stops. He looks down at the floor and tears well up in his eyes. I’m not sure what is going on because we were really too deep.
So I wait a few seconds and Bob says, “I just was all of sudden reminded of that story about Jesus and the guy who died.” Bob does read the Bible frequently but doesn’t know what it says and where it is at.
“A lot times when I really think about Jesus and what he has done for me, it just overwhelms me. He raised that guy from the dead and that is what Jesus has done for me. He died for me and sometimes it just seems too much.”
Tears are running down his cheeks and he wipes them off with his sleeves. “Jesus is just so good,” Bob says.
Honest, sincere love for Jesus. Bob weeps because of the love that Jesus has for him. I have no doubt that Bob is one of the sheep of Jesus’ flock. That day, Bob shamed me. That day, Bob showed me what it is know the love that Jesus has for us. I’m no better than Bob. In fact, I’m probably worse. When was the last time that I allowed the love of Jesus to move me.
Maybe that’s our problem. We’re so consumed with keeping it all together that we won’t let his love move our hearts. When that happens we aren’t moved to where we need to be.
“He died for me and sometimes it just seems too much.”