Love & Repentance part 2 (Passover)
And thou shalt love the LORD thy G-D with all thine
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
(D’varim)Deuteronomy 6:5
Seems cliche, does it not? Loving G-D with all your heart, soul and strength, the question becomes do we really do that? Sure we can say we do, but our actions prove other wise...it’s like the saying;
“Actions speak louder than words”
Kind of puts a new perspective on (James 2:18) if you think about it...you know; “Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works”. This all goes hand and hand with “Love and Repentance Part-1”
You can claim to accept Messiah, and even claim to love Him...but where’s the proof? where’s the fruit?
Where’s the brokenness? Where’s the change, and the daily surrendering of self, and putting Him above everything else.
How dare we claim to love Him with all our heart and soul, and yet cling to the world...
How dare we say we are His children and we call Him Abba...but don’t show Him honor or give any reverence to His Torah(law). (Malachi 1:6)
But displaying grace unto thousands of them that LOVE me and keep my commandments.
(D’varim) Deuteronomy 5:10
exactly what Yeshua(Jesus) said;
“If you love me, keep my commandments”
John 14:15
Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them.
Psalm 119:165
We are so confused about what LOVE is, and yet we claim to have the author of life...We say we know His word but somehow miss the definition of it, we miss the context and the meaning between the lines. If ever we are in a quandary about what love is, we have the directions, we have the manual right at our finger tips.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, if you want to know what real love is than go read your Bible...because it does nothing but scream self-sacrificing love. I could also tell you to just go and read 1 Corinthians 13
Love is patient and kind, not jealous, not boastful,
not proud, rude or selfish, not easily angered...
ect ect ect..
And of course again, just look at our passover lamb Yeshua. But you see, the reason Love and repentance go hand in hand, is because we may know love when it is given to us, but how do we respond to it? How do we show love back becomes a key element. This is what I mean by Love and Repentance are a perfect marriage, For we wouldn’t know what real LOVE is if we didn’t know G-D, the author of love and creator of it, who first loved us before we even knew how to make a response. You see, G-Ds response is Love ours should be REPENTANCE, we show love in return to our Abba(father) by honoring what He honors, walking in His light, being led by His spirit, cherishing His torah(law), and abhorring what He abhors.
For those that don’t know this is Passover week, This is the time we are called to remember what happened in Egypt with G-Ds chosen people(Exodus 12:14). Specifically G-D tells us in Exodus 12 that they were to slaughter a lamb or goat without defect on the 14th day of the month at dusk, and than they were to smear the blood on their door posts, and G-D would go through out Egypt slaying all the firstborn but passover the houses whose door posts were covered by the blood.
You may be asking:
“And this has to do with Love and repentance..because?”
Well did G-D not show His love to His people by freeing them from slavery? Did they do anything to deserve it? Most people say the “Old Testament” is full of an angry Holy god and the “New Testament” is full of a god of mercy and love...
I find that idea to be completely stupid, because I see G-D as exactly the same in “both” Testaments, and the bible makes it absolutely clear that He doesn’t change.
He is merciful to forgive and yet righteous and Holy at the same time, we absolutely see this in the sacrifice of the lamb of G-D Yeshua Ha’Mashiach. You see, Passover is symbolic of the crucifixion of Yeshua, passover should mean the world to us. Through the blood of the lamb we are freed from slavery of sin!
Through the blood of the lamb we see the absolute Holiness and Righteousness of G-D by fulfilling His wrath by crucifying His Son on a Tree, and His mercy,LOVE, and forgiveness by the same action.
So finally...and again I ask, what should our response to this be?
