Prayer Thought May 5th, 2014

Competition has always been a part of our family. With the coming and going of Mother’s Day I was reminded of how my two siblings have continually made a sport of outdoing one another in calling, sending cards, and giving gifts to our parents. On several occasions my brother has reminded my sister and me that he typically wins the ‘funniest card’ category. And as of late, my sister’s new strategy has been to combine her own family vacation with my parent’s anniversary, leaving me and my wife to scramble for the consolation prize of having only provided a free room at our house in which to stay while in Houston. But seriously, how could we compete with Disney World? I use to find these little games a bit annoying, as one of the others would declare that they had been the first to call at 6 am the morning of a birthday or had posted a Facebook message at 12:01 am on their wall.

But recently I have come to recognize the motivation behind these little antagonistic rivalries. Because of the faithfulness and sacrificial love displayed so selflessly by our parents over the years, especially when we ourselves were not faithful, there is a deep seeded desire amongst the three of us to love our parents greatly and to respond with special moments of grateful celebration. Of course bragging rights factor in at times, but the idea of love for love is a privilege originally conceived in the mind of God. After all, he tells us very clearly through the Apostle John that, “We love him, because he first loved us.” And Paul continues with this idea in Romans 12:

 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with 
brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent 
in spirit, and serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 
Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

With this in mind, let us love sincerely with the love we have received from our father. Let us celebrate with him by being constant in prayer. And with this daily communion, our love can be transformed into a genuine outpouring of honor and affection.

Pastor John