January 26 Love or Hate Jesus?

John 7:6-8 Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. 8 “You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.”   
 
“THE world hates me.” Jesus said. Do you agree? He qualifies his charge with, “I testify what it does is evil.”  Yes, it’s easy to see in this context the many ways people express a hatred for Jesus. We do not want to hear, “You have sinned.”
   But what about those of us who walk into a church each Sabbath or say, “I’m a Christian.” Would Jesus make the same charge against us?
   I think we all need to stop and ask, “Is my life telling Jesus, ‘I hate you?’” What do you think as you consider your own heart? What I see makes me sad sometimes.
   I am grieved when I easily put Jesus off to the side. Many years he was even out of bounds. I stayed away from his church. I spoke harsh language. I spent no time with the Lord in prayer or reading God’s Word. I coveted. I saw the world through the lens of “me”.
   I thank Jesus he opened my eyes to my “hate speech” toward him. That awareness opened the door into a loving relationship with the Lord God. Through his church, his people and his Spirit, my living Savior spoke into me. I learned to pray and began to awaken to a true love the Lord. I pay more attention now to when I “hate” the Lord, so I can put that neglect out of my life. It’s easy to keep Jesus centered when I recall how much I disliked my life without him. Gratefully, I rejoice in my Lord’s loving presence. 
   Yes, people in the culture and in the church, do hate Jesus. Our rebellious hearts exclaim, “Don’t tell me how to live.” Such hate speech is declaring, “I am lord of my life. How dare you, Jesus, command me to change?” We disdain the ways his commands restrict our sinful desires. To “not hate” Jesus means we must submit to his loving words in what we think, say and do.
   Let’s pray that we truly love the truth. And we are eager to say and do, “I love you, Lord.” 
 
Prayer: Lord God, please reveal to me any form of “hate speech” toward you and others that comes from my words and deeds. Amen.