What makes a 65 year man old come out to work at the Church on a hot Texas morning? The disabled veteran has his own wife and family to take care of, he recently retired from full-time employment, and he already helps out during services. The Governor recommends that we stay home, to reduce the chance of getting the Wuhan virus, but he has essential work to do. He has plenty to keep him busy around his own home, but has been coming out to work on the Church for more than a year now. The humidity is so high that he will soon be soaked in sweat. So why does he do it? He is doing love.
He and his family have been blessed by the ministry of that Church and his daughter attends our Christian school. Our Pastors prayed over him and GOD healed his body and he and his family were baptized in water here. He has grown spiritually under the Full Gospel teaching and his wife and in-laws were blessed and have become blessings in our Church. He and his wife have found the joy in doing love.
Another reason is the great need. Our Pastors have struggled to keep up with an ever-increasing ministry and facility maintenance burden for years. Our Church couldn’t afford to have the needed work done, so our school Principal\Youth Pastor and his son tried to keep up, along with teaching and ministry. As new requirements were added, he needed even more help. Brother Steele stepped in and began working when he could and that encouraged other men of the Church to pitch in. Even as we have made great progress, we have also seen an increase in the need. So it looks like we will have to keep on doing love.
But wait a minute, isn’t love an emotion? Why do we have to “do” (act in) love? Aren’t we supposed to be under grace and not have to follow rules? It’s true that “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph 2:8-9 KJV), but then what? To make grace available to us, GOD had to do love when He “so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV). JESUS had to do love when He died on the cross for our sins. Besides that, somebody had to do some love to lead you to JESUS. They gave so much for us, so shouldn’t we do some love for them?
Even JESUS commanded us to do love when He said “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mat 16:15-16 KJV). That infers that if we don’t do love, some won’t hear the gospel and won’t believe and will be damned. Our failure to do could cost those we don’t reach an unimaginable price. When JESUS asked Peter “Lovest thou me” He told Him to “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17 KJV) and we know he wasn’t talking about feeding wooly farm animals. We may not be called to preach behind the pulpit, but we are called to do love by supporting those who are called. Maybe we can even do love outside the Church and see what GOD can do with that?
Wayne Lance (2020)