Thought for December 5, 2024

  •  1360: French franc created
  • 1492: Columbus discovers Hispaniola
  • 1525: Anabaptist Hans Schlaffer is arrested and burned at the stake for refusing to recant his opposition to infant baptism
  • 1776: Phi Beta Kappa formed at College of William and Mary--proud to be a member
  • 1854: Folding theater chair patented
  • 1893: Electric car invented that could go 15 miles on a charge
  • 1932: Einstein granted a visa to enter the US
  • 1933: Prohibition ends with passage of the 21st Amendment
  • 1955: Birmingham bus boycott begins
  • 1988 Federal Grand Jury indicts Jim Bakker for fraud
  • 1992: 1st SEC Championship game--Alabama 28--Florida 21
  • 2008: OJ Simpson sentenced to 33 years in jail for kidnapping and armed robbery
  • 2018: Einstein's letter on religion sells for $2.9 million
  • Born: Martin Van Buren, George Armstrong Custer, Walt Disney, Otto Preminger, Little Richard, James Cleveland [gospel singer], Jim Messina [Loggins & Messina]
  • Died: Mozart, Alexander Dumas, Claude Monet, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Al Gore, Sr., Don Meredith, Dave Brubeck, Nelson Mandela, Priscilla Jane Owens [wrote "Jesus Saves" and "We Have an Anchor"]
Thought:
Reading 1 Corinthians 13 this morning and thinking about love. Is there a more misused word? Back in the early 1960's C.S. Lewis warned that Satan's plan was to change the meaning of words so that people become confused and thus think they are loving when they are not. Shortly thereafter, we had the summer of love, which really was the summer of sex. Then we got the movie, "Love Story" and were told love means you never have to say you are sorry--no repentance. Now we love our teams, our music, our cars, our houses. Then we love the Lord the same way we love our cars and think that is good. We love our car so long as it is doing what we ask, but when it stop doing that, we get rid of it. 

Today, I am thinking about what love is not [13:1-3]. 
  • Love is not talking a good game or saying I love you. [13:1] Talking about loving without real love is just background noise. If fact, it is irritating background noise. 
  • Love is not being spiritual or religious. [13:2] Some people say they are not Christians or religious, but they are spiritual. If they do not have the spirit of Jesus, whose spirit must they have? Love is not a feeling, or facts, or even some special talent or gift.
  • Love is not just generosity. If I satisfy my guilt by giving to the poor, that's not love. If I see a touching commercial and write a check, that is not love. 
  • If I wear myself out trying to do enough good works to reach heaven, that is not love. 
Wait a minute. If those things are not love, am I wasting my time doing those things? No. But if I do them for the praise of man, to check a box, to appear holy, to help my reputation, then they are sounding brass or tinkling cymbals. Love is truly a heart issue that demonstrates itself in special ways. 

Today, I am thinking about what I love, really love. Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for a friend. Who am I willing to lay down my life for? Jesus asks that every day.

Blessings
Larry

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