Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, dear ones.

Overcast. Feels more like fall. Nice conditions for working outside. And I will be doing that—running the sawmill at 10:30am to cut up a couple big oak logs that a guy will be hauling down from Washington.

Becki is preparing for her run to Woodburn to host a Bible Study at Country Meadows—an assisted living center. I’ll try to do a jog before I get thick into work. Before that I need to send some information to a couple people relative to sign jobs.

May your day be a good one.

Love, Dad/Ray.

The illustration Paul gives in this reading of the Christian soldier, decked out with the armor of God, is one that is both well-known and profound. It is a passage of thought and inspiration that is well worth our attention and review. But I’m choosing here to give special focus to the last three words of this chapter. Let me quote again the statement that contains those three words. “Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with AN UNDYING LOVE.”

Do you agree that loving God is the only option to yield the best benefits for time and eternity? Do you agree that any love that is not nurtured and maintained will eventually grow cold and/or die? I won’t make a lot more comment—but I sure could. I’ll just list a few related scriptures that come to mind. Suffice it to say that we are touching on the foundational motivation for the whole idea of this passage—loving God above all else (a HEART AFTER GOD)—without which there is no armor, no protective defense, and no effective offense in this universal battle for the souls of men—including our own. So let me just encourage you to hang in there and love God with AN UNDYING LOVE.

“’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 yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’” Matthew 22:36-40.

“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:12-13.

“If anyone does not love the Lord—a curse be on him. Come, O Lord!” 1 Corinthians 16:22.

“The man who says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him.” 1 John 2:4-5.

“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.