A Plea to Love

"O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land… We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay." (Dan 9:4-6; 18-19 NIV)

O Lord, your sacrificial love surpasses any human affections. Your unfathomable grace exceeds any of our pitiful goodness. Your thoughts are higher than our twisted self-concerned deliberations. Your promises are as certain as the flowers that bloom in every determined season. You are far above all of our best intentions.

Please forgive the many of us who:

- Play church without really knowing You.

- Condemn others without even trying to walk in their shoes.

- Consider eternity as utterly boring, as an unending church service, without contemplating your promises uttered in your love letters addressed to us.

- Prioritize our to-do lists without considering time to draw close to you.

- Value our leisure more than the needs of the oppressed.

- Consume the riches of our planet without admiring the beauty of your creation.

- Neglect our marriages without assuming our responsibilities.

- Ignore the plight of our own children as if our passions are of more value.

- Are consumed with fear of the unknown, without even considering that trusting You will grant us inner peace.

- Make a nothing of eternity and an eternity of nothing.

- Are absorbed with thoughts of self instead of reaching out towards the unlovable.

- Are more concerned about our upcoming bills than sharing Your love with the hopeless.

I wonder where love is in those of us who profess to be Your followers. Have we drifted so far away that we cannot discern the footsteps left by You? Have we become so complacent with the unfulfilling attractive promises of this world that the word "love" has become extinct among us? Have we finally fulfilled the grim prophesy of Matthew 24: 12 ("Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold" NIV) Has our love mercilessly grown cold beyond repair? Have we forgotten the cost of Your supreme sacrifice?

There are still a few, however, who "stand firm to the end". To those, eternity is promised.

Oh Lord, revive us! Blow Your Spirit of life into our heart so that we can be reignited by your everlasting love. Awaken us from complacency (See Eph 5:14) so that "Christ will shine on" us. Fill us with your passion for the lost and may we stand united, loving one another deeply, so that the hopeless can ascertain that there is a loving God who cares for them. Help us to stop with our multitude of concerns about self and start carrying your burden for the hopeless, loving them with the same sacrificial love that You have for them. Help us to realize that in our current condition, we will never fulfill our purpose. Please shine on us, so that we start reflecting your love. Save us from ourselves.

Thank you Lord for hearing our plea. Thank you for helping us to become more loveable. Thank you for stirring us up from our unconsciousness. May your love become our banner on high.

In Jesus' name.

Amen

Rob Chaffart