LOVE-LENT 2017 - THE WORD IN LENT #26

Love: the strength that seems weak!

Saturday, Fourth week in Lent - 1st April, 2017
Jer 11: 18-20; Jn 7: 40-52

A friend of mine once told me, "I hate that person" and I immediately asked her, "why?". She said it as a matter of fact, "I don't like the beard that he sports, that he is tall and well built and that he has that big bike." Are you wondering whether these are reasons enough to hate a person? I too wondered, but she did not. Many have many strange reasons to hate persons. While that level of strangeness can be debated, my question remains this: can I hate someone, being a disciple of Christ? It is one thing to disapprove of what one is or what one does, but to hate a person, to the extent of intending to get rid of that person... that is a serious issue. 

Christian way of living would mean I love everyone, irrespective of who the person is and what he or she has done to me or failed to do to me! The Word today presents to us the cases of Jeremiah and Jesus - both hated for reasons known only unto the haters. They were scheming to kill Jeremiah and he was not even aware of it, until the Lord revealed it to him; he was so innocent. Jesus was hated because he was from Galilee...what a reason!

Jesus or Jeremiah, may seem weak here - but they are truly strong, people who loved the Lord and the Lord's people. Love at times may look like a weakness or timidity, but actually it is a strength, a power, something that is going to triumph ultimately. Will you endure until that moment?