Jesus said, “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35
The day our adopted children arrived at their new home in Tennessee, Stephen, the oldest boy, was in another room when his sister, Elizabeth, was presented with her welcome gifts, a doll and a little fox puppet. She was very, very excited about both of her gifts. She hugged them and hugged us and showed great appreciation. When Stephen entered the room where we had gathered, Elizabeth held out her toys, one in each hand: “Look, this is mine and this is mine.”
Stephen turned, grabbed me around the waist, and, hugging me tightly, said with a smile, “This is mine.” As you might imagine, that won my heart.
This is precisely what we need to remember in this whole subject of God making us part of his family. While there are a lot of gifts that come with that, absolutely fabulous benefits, what it’s really all about is God himself. (Rev. 21:2-4)
One of my grandfather’s favorite songs contained the lines, “The bride eyes not her garment but her dear bridegroom’s face. I will not gaze on glory but on my King of grace.” When we look forward to heaven, it’s not the streets of gold; it’s not the gates of pearl. The glory of the kingdom of God is the King. The beauty is his holiness. The joy for us is that nothing can separate us from his love, and that is not just for some distant day. It starts now.
Susan told me that all the way home from Ukraine, each time they were about to land and change flights, Stephen asked, “Will Papa be here?”
Finally, when the plane landed in Knoxville, Susan was able to answer, “Yes, Stephen, Papa will be here.” It thrills my heart to be loved by my son. It thrills God’s heart when we finally learn to love him.
An expert in the law asked Jesus, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ All the Law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:36-40)
God longs to manifest his love in and through us. God is love: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol.” (1 Corinthians 13:1)
When we finally arrived ay our home in Tennessee, it was thrilling to show my children their rooms. It was great to say, “This is your home.” But the thing that mattered the most to them and that they longed to hear over and over was, “We are a family.”
What we need to realize, as the children of God, is not how to get this from God and how to get that from God and how to obtain things by following certain spiritual principles; we need to realize that it’s all about God. It’s a love relationship with him that makes us a part of his family and love for one another that enriches that family. Love is what it’s about.
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