“Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way.” 1 Corinthians 13: 4b-5a NLT
Here we read about a love that refuses to be jealous of others; a love that does not brag about achievements or inflate its own importance; a love that doesn’t selfishly seek its own way. Does this sound like an realistic love? Well let’s find out…..
Reckless Love
There is a song called “Reckless Love” and when I first heard it I didn’t really understand how they could call God reckless because someone who is reckless is defined as acting in a way that shows they do not care about how their behaviour will affect other people, they are careless, wild, rash, irresponsible. Then I gained understanding as I listened to one of the songwriters, Cory Asbury, explain his thoughts and the motive behind the song in a YouTube clip (link below). He opens with the passage from Luke 15:1-7, which is the parable of a shepherd who leaves behind 99 of his sheep to search for one missing sheep. When the shepherd finds his lost sheep, he joyfully carries the sheep back to the others. Then Cory goes on to explain his lyrics: “When we use the phrase: ‘the reckless love of God’, we are not saying that God Himself is reckless, He’s not crazy. We are however saying that the way He loves is, in many regards, quite so. What I mean is this: He is utterly unconcerned with the consequences of His actions with regards to His own safety, comfort and wellbeing…His love isn’t selfish or self-serving…” Cory finishes declaring that Jesus laid His life down for us in pursuit of our hearts.
Jesus laid down His life
There is a promise that we can know the love that I talked about at the start, a selfless giving love: “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us.” 1 John 3:16a (NLT)
Jesus laid down His life for us, for you and for me. He did not just react out of instinct and He wasn’t forced into it; He knew the path set before Him and walked it with great obedience. He responded purely because He loves us that much and had a great desire to save us. Just like the good Shepherd, going in search of the lost sheep, Jesus came to earth to find us – His lost sheep. He laid down His life for us because He is in pursuit of our hearts (as Cory explained).
In John 10:10 Jesus explains that he had come to give us life in abundance, He gave His all for us so that we could walk in divine freedom. What a powerful and life changing promise that is!
It cost Him
Jesus knew that it would cost Him everything, but He chose to pay the huge price because we are worth it. Before Jesus was nailed to the cross He suffered greatly. He was betrayed by someone He had mentored; His disciples all abandoned Him in His time of need – firstly falling asleep in the garden when He had asked them to pray with Him and then by denying that they knew Him; the very people He came to save scorned, rejected and despised Him (see Isaiah 53:3); He was tortured: whipped, beaten, his beard was plucked and a crown of thorns was placed upon His head; He was then forced to carry His heavy cross to His place of crucifixion; there He was nailed to the cross and hung up amidst further mocking and jeering; finally a sword pierced His side. Jesus died. (I’ve detailed below the passages where you can find the details below)
Good News
Although Jesus declared: “it is finished” (John 19:30) His death wasn’t the end of His story. Hallelujah! As promised Jesus rose again, He appeared to many people including His disciples and before leaving He left them with this commissioning:
“I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18b-20 (NLT)
Divine Love
A reckless love chased me down
He pursued me until I was found
I’m not the only one
This is not for me alone
The gift of reckless love is for ALL
Jesus is chasing after you today
He wants to be known by you
The loving Heavenly Father longs for your heart to reside with His
The Holy Spirit is ready and waiting to be your Comforter and Empowerer
ALL you need today can be found in Christ
It has been done, it is finished
Will you simply respond?
Prayer:
Do you know that God loves you?
I pray that today, right now, this very moment, you can know that Jesus loves you! He laid down His life for You, He held absolutely nothing back in order to reconcile you with God. By accepting Jesus as Saviour, you can gain life in abundance. The Holy Spirit is ready and waiting to be your Helper, Comforter, Advocate and Intercessor (as promised in John 14:26).
Accept Jesus and know that He promised to be with you always, regardless of circumstance, every single day He will be with you, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).
Please join me in this prayer:
Lord Jesus I thank You for pursuing me, for loving me so much that You willing gave Yourself to set me free. Please forgive me for my past mistakes, come and make things right. Please release to me the promised abundant life. Holy Spirit I ask You to come and teach me about Jesus, come and be my Helper, assisting me each and every moment; come as my Comforter, take away the hurt and pain of the past; come as my Advocate, please support, strengthen, and counsel me; and be my great Intercessor, teach me how to pray and also continually lift me up in prayer. Thank You that I can call upon the name of Jesus and be saved (Romans 10:13). Amen.
Many Blessings, Keona
The “Reckless Love” YouTube clip link. The explanation starts at 5:38. Also in another interview Cory explains that the song came from 2 powerful moments: When Cory held his son for the first time it changed every idea of what God was, he found a capacity for love that he thought he could never have. Then when his daughter had some health complications Cory asked God some really tough questions and with raw honesty cried out to God. You can watch this interview on YouTube.
The details leading up to and after Jesus’ crucifixion can be found in Mark 14-15, Matthew 26-27, Luke 22-23, and John 18-19. These 2 links are articles on the timeline leading up to and after Jesus’ crucifixion:
BBC & OwlCation
I also studied “Jesus’ Family Tree: Seeing God’s Faithfulness in the Genealogy of Christ.” United States of America: ‘Rose Publishing’, 2015.
