The Devotional – 1420 – Hatred verses Love

The Devotional – 1420 – Hatred verses Love

Proverbs 10:12 – Hatred stirs up strife, but Love covers all sins.

 

 Comments and challenges

One thing that I have noticed over this past decade of storytelling is that the approach to each event takes me on a journey of those pleasant and funny or unpleasant and sad circumstances that develop in the course of a lifetime. Then of course is the courage or fool hearty nerve to put them into words for the reader. I am confident that when these devotionals are worthy to read that they will help all of us call to mind things of similar nature that happens to us daily.

Actually the events that I write about are serious, but I add a comical note or two because it is better in my thinking to stir up the humor of all moments in life while facing the reality that life for most of us in not humorous, unless we purposely go looking for it. Here is an example! If you have children who are grown up adults and if you were asked; “Do you love your children?” There would be no hesitation; “yes, I love my children, why just yesterday…ha, ha, ha”!

And yet almost immediately and even before you break eye contact with the one who asked the question, your mind will acknowledge to you that moment or moments in time when you wronged your child in some way or when they wronged you. If you are not careful, your eyes at that moment will betray your heart where bitterness or hurt may dwell and if you are like most, your eyes will shift away so the sorrow is unseen.

Last evening, my wife and I watched the movie; The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. For me the main characters are not Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy; but the Lion Aslan and the White Witch. In the mind of any story teller is the thought to present events that produce “good and evil” so for me the Lion is the Lamb, the Lamb of God who takes away the icy cold of the White Witch who is Satan, the murderer and deceiver of world that is cast into the bitter cold sin of hate.

The cold represents the hatred of Satan’s heart which is absent of love, while the warmth of the Lion represents the Sacrificial Love that restores Narnia to the original kingdom it once enjoyed before Adam sinned and the sons of Adam began to pro-create in that sin over all the earth. Now I know that the movie is a tale of fiction, but in the mind of C.S. Lewis when he wrote was this Truth. While reading the novel many years ago, I was first reminded of Romans 8:19-22 where the Apostle Paul explains that Creation itself eagerly waits for the revealing of the Sons of God.

While we do not see creation in real life this way and while we do not see the spiritual wickedness in high places (which is the war between God and Satan) we do see the LAMB, the Sacrifice of God who takes away SIN from Adam’s family, who restores LOVE to whoever calls upon the Name of the Lamb (Jesus) by faith in His sacrificial death and resurrection.

I would challenge each of us this morning to study Romans 5:12-21 – Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned-- (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded too many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers a multitude of sin – and above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins… 1 Peter 4:8