John 15:9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you Now remain in my love.”
Children are a wonderful addition to our lives, except when they don’t do the simple things we ask them to do. Simple things like putting your toys away or emptying the trash seem to slip their young minds so repeatedly that we wonder about our sanity and their intellect.
Children have to learn to take responsibility for their actions and non-actions. They have to own up to their mistakes, lapses, outright rebellion. And that is a very difficult thing to teach.
And yet it is one of the most important lessons anyone can learn. We have a part in the outcome of our lives. We can make choices that affect our future. And this is true even in our spiritual pursuits. We have a part to play.
Jesus’ command to remain in His love implies that we have the ability to NOT remain in His love. If that choice is not a real choice, to stay or to wander, then His words are empty. But No words Jesus spoke were empty. They carry the weight of Heaven.
Some read these words and their theology places an interpretation on them that contradicts these words. Their framework of their understanding of God places constraints on the words of Jesus and flips them upside down. Their theology adds an explanatory clause that just isn’t there.
They add the words “if you are elect” to our verse. They believe the proper way to understand this verse is to add something to it which is supported by their theology but not the text. And by doing this they remove any role we have in our continued relationship with the LORD.
But I believe we have a role; we must respond to His call. We must respond to the invitation to receive His love and to love in return. Just as Jesus gave us the example of servanthood when He washed our feet, and He expects us to respond with acts of service in kind, so we have the responsibility to remain in His love.
And we all know people who have chosen to walk away. They have become the soil that received the seed, but their hearts were hard or torn by the cares of this world. They don’t bring forth any fruit, acts of love that reflect their connection to the vine.
So, are you fruity? Or are you producing fruit that no one wants?
There is one fruit that everyone wants, even if they reject it. They want to be loved by someone, truly and deeply loved. And love isn’t an emotion in this instance. Love is an action. Love can be seen and experienced. Love does things for the other.
The Arnold Journey 