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Of Fear and Love
April/The Martyr Life
26 April 2010
Everyone should call upon and beseech the Lord of heaven and earth to stir up fear and love of Him within his heart; for until the fear of God enters his heart, one is but lukewarm. When fear is weak, repentance is weak. When repentance is weak, religion is weak. For he who does not fear God will not love Him.
- Colman mac Beognai, Aipgitir Chrabaid (Irish, 7th century)
And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD...?
- Deuteronomy 10.12, 13
On the east face of the Cross of Muiredach, King Jesus stands to rule the earth. Upon His shoulders He bears two symbols - a sword and a scepter. The scepter is the scepter of uprightness mentioned in Psalm 45.5, 6. Jesus is ruling the world in order to re-establish it in the condition in which God created it - good, very good (cf. Eccl. 7.29).
But they will not submit to that scepter who think they know better than Jesus how they ought to run their lives. If we will not pay attention to the Law of God, reading and meditating in it daily, how can we hope to know the mind and purposes of Him Who gave it, kept it, and commands us to walk in it?
We do not learn and obey the Law of God because we think this will save us. Rather, we think the full joy and power and purpose of our salvation are hidden in this Law, which, as we learn to delight in and obey it, unlocks the glory of redemption and the power of renewal in our lives. We who profess to be the King's martyrs, to live and speak as His witnesses, must not neglect the Law of God in our daily seeking of His Kingdom. They who do so find even their prayers to be an abomination to our King (Prov. 28.9).
The Law is unto fullness of life (Lev. 18.1-5)! It is the perfect Law of liberty to set us free from the allure and snares of sin so that we might rejoice in the glorious liberty and life of the sons and daughters of God. King Jesus says that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments. And certainly, if we fear Him as we should - the other side of the coin of our love for Him - we will walk in the path He has marked out for us.
And, so doing, we will know real life in all its fullness.
Today in ReVision: Hardly Reassuring - The bad guys are watching the bad guys, and nothing short of revival can change this situation.
This Week's Download: Be Witnesses- I'll bet several of your friends would welcome being challenged by this free download.
Jesus calls us to walk in The Law of God. Get this edition of the Law and begin learning to love it.
T. M. Moore, nacurragh@aol.com
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