Commitment to God and the Prodigal Son (II)
----continuing
And I saw how wonderful it was to be close to my Father. How wonderful Life was with Him, to be in His house. And I saw myself got up and walked back to the house. I told my self, I wanted to give this life back to Him, I wanted to serve Him back, to be His servant. And so I walked, and I saw the house, and I saw my Father ran toward me, and I felt on my knees.
I wanted to give my life back to Him, I wanted to give myself. I said to my father, "Father, I am no longer worthy to be called your son, treat me as your hired servant.". And my Father opened His arm, and he said, "No...". He hugged me, and kissed me, and he whispered these words, "You....are ..my..son....., my beloved. I do not want you to serve me as a slave or servant. Love me and serve me like a son love His father. You are my son, my beloved".
And I felt again the Love which I lost, I felt again the joy in being with my Father, the joy of being loved, the joy of loving.
And I realized how God showed me what commitment to God is all about. It's about experiencing the Love of the Father and this Love drived me on to give myself back to Him, to stay close to Him forever, to commit myself to my Loving Father.
You might want to know what a Dictionary (Collins) said about the word "commit". It is written:
"If you commit yourself to someone, you decide that you want to have a long-term relationship with them."
This is what commitment is all about, to have a long and everlasting relationship with our Father, our Loving God. Commitment to God is not about burden. It's about experiencing the Love, and because we know that we are loved, we can freely give ourselves to the one who loves us. And as we give ourselves, we love that person. Love is always giving.
This our reasons to commit ourselves to God. Not because God "demanded" it. But simply because it is our home, it is the place where we should be. We commit ourselves simply because we experience the Love of God, and we know that the only way to Love back is to give our whole life back to Him, to commit ourselves to Him.
This is what Jesus said as He was on the cross.
"Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last. "
(Luk 23:46)
Jesus knew that the Father loved Him, and He experienced that Love in His life. And that Love drived Him to go to the cross, to give himself fully to the Father. Into the father's hand, Jesus commited himself. And He knew that it was his place to be in the Father's hand, to enjoy His love, and to Love Him back.
And this is what God is inviting us to do. To commit ourselves into the Father's hand. Because in His hand we will experience Love, in His arm we experience what Life to the fullest is all about.
And this is what the Father said to his sons who stays with Him.
"And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. "
(Luk 15:31)
As we commit ourselves to God, God is saying to us, "My Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.". All that the Father has is yours. All that God has since the very beginning is yours. All that God of the universe has, God of Love has, all that God the source of Joy has, is yours. All that the Father has is yours.
Some people are afraid of the words commitment. Maybe because we see that word as a duty. We do not see it in the context of experiencing Love. I remember one of my brother said that love starts with a beautiful feeling, but true love goes to commitment. We need to commit ourselves to God out of Love and not out of fear or duty. And as we Love God by commiting ourselves, there won't be anymore fear.
"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love."
(1Jo 4:18)
My brothers and sister, God is Life. As we walked away from Him, we walked away from Life. We will not be able to survive. We might thought that we could survive. That prodigal son thought that he could survive. But we cannot. We cannot simply because we walked away from Life. That is why death entered into the world when Adam walked away from God.
It is only when we come to God, and give our Life to God, we will find Life.
"For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
(Mat 16:25)
"It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"
(Luk 15:32)
My brothers and sisters, let us come before Him. Not out of fear, not out of duty, but out of Love. Come and give ourselves to the one who loves us. Come and be loved, Come and give Love.
"My beloved speaks and says to me: "Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away;"
(Son 2:10)
"Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last. "
(Luk 23:46)
Next: Story of a little wood and the evelasting fire.
-----to be continued
And I saw how wonderful it was to be close to my Father. How wonderful Life was with Him, to be in His house. And I saw myself got up and walked back to the house. I told my self, I wanted to give this life back to Him, I wanted to serve Him back, to be His servant. And so I walked, and I saw the house, and I saw my Father ran toward me, and I felt on my knees.
I wanted to give my life back to Him, I wanted to give myself. I said to my father, "Father, I am no longer worthy to be called your son, treat me as your hired servant.". And my Father opened His arm, and he said, "No...". He hugged me, and kissed me, and he whispered these words, "You....are ..my..son....., my beloved. I do not want you to serve me as a slave or servant. Love me and serve me like a son love His father. You are my son, my beloved".
And I felt again the Love which I lost, I felt again the joy in being with my Father, the joy of being loved, the joy of loving.
And I realized how God showed me what commitment to God is all about. It's about experiencing the Love of the Father and this Love drived me on to give myself back to Him, to stay close to Him forever, to commit myself to my Loving Father.
You might want to know what a Dictionary (Collins) said about the word "commit". It is written:
"If you commit yourself to someone, you decide that you want to have a long-term relationship with them."
This is what commitment is all about, to have a long and everlasting relationship with our Father, our Loving God. Commitment to God is not about burden. It's about experiencing the Love, and because we know that we are loved, we can freely give ourselves to the one who loves us. And as we give ourselves, we love that person. Love is always giving.
This our reasons to commit ourselves to God. Not because God "demanded" it. But simply because it is our home, it is the place where we should be. We commit ourselves simply because we experience the Love of God, and we know that the only way to Love back is to give our whole life back to Him, to commit ourselves to Him.
This is what Jesus said as He was on the cross.
"Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last. "
(Luk 23:46)
Jesus knew that the Father loved Him, and He experienced that Love in His life. And that Love drived Him to go to the cross, to give himself fully to the Father. Into the father's hand, Jesus commited himself. And He knew that it was his place to be in the Father's hand, to enjoy His love, and to Love Him back.
And this is what God is inviting us to do. To commit ourselves into the Father's hand. Because in His hand we will experience Love, in His arm we experience what Life to the fullest is all about.
And this is what the Father said to his sons who stays with Him.
"And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. "
(Luk 15:31)
As we commit ourselves to God, God is saying to us, "My Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.". All that the Father has is yours. All that God has since the very beginning is yours. All that God of the universe has, God of Love has, all that God the source of Joy has, is yours. All that the Father has is yours.
Some people are afraid of the words commitment. Maybe because we see that word as a duty. We do not see it in the context of experiencing Love. I remember one of my brother said that love starts with a beautiful feeling, but true love goes to commitment. We need to commit ourselves to God out of Love and not out of fear or duty. And as we Love God by commiting ourselves, there won't be anymore fear.
"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love."
(1Jo 4:18)
My brothers and sister, God is Life. As we walked away from Him, we walked away from Life. We will not be able to survive. We might thought that we could survive. That prodigal son thought that he could survive. But we cannot. We cannot simply because we walked away from Life. That is why death entered into the world when Adam walked away from God.
It is only when we come to God, and give our Life to God, we will find Life.
"For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
(Mat 16:25)
"It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"
(Luk 15:32)
My brothers and sisters, let us come before Him. Not out of fear, not out of duty, but out of Love. Come and give ourselves to the one who loves us. Come and be loved, Come and give Love.
"My beloved speaks and says to me: "Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away;"
(Son 2:10)
"Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last. "
(Luk 23:46)
Next: Story of a little wood and the evelasting fire.
-----to be continued
posted by Oka | 8:47 pm
1 Comments:
Ochaaaaa!!!!
Thank You :)
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