Getting right with God is the beginning of the Christian life. But as supremely important that is, it is only the beginning. As we grow up in our faith – as we surely must if our faith is genuine – we face many trials and challenges, as well as many joys. Discipline is God’s way of pruning us to produce the fruit of our faith. When the Holy Spirit works in our lives to prune us, He generates the fruit of the Spirit. And love is the first in the list of that fruit (Gal 5:22). God is calling each and every one of us to love – to love God and to love our neighbor. How can we participate in growing that fruit? Jesus tells us how in parable – to remember just how much we have been forgiven: those who are forgiven much, love much; but those who have been forgiven little, loves little.
In Luke 15 Jesus tells a parable in three parts to show how much God and all heaven rejoice when the lost are found. Jesus begins with a lost sheep, then tells of a lost coin, and finishes with a story of a father’s extravagant love for his two sons. As we hear the final story, let’s consider with which son we most identify. In the end, though, the most important figure is the loving father. May we embrace our heavenly Father’s gracious gift of prodigal love.
The greatest command in the Bible – the command that encompasses all other commands – is love. This month as we look at Jesus’ parables that only Luke records, we come to the familiar story of the Good Samaritan. As familiar as the story is to us, the lesson is shockingly new every time we read it: the love God expects from us knows no borders. May we hear the story again with fresh ears for renewed obedience so we may “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8)
Jesus tells a parable about a fruitless fig tree that gets a second chance at life, but even those days are numbered. Jesus is showing us that repentance and fruitful living are non-negotiable in the kingdom of God. God is patient with us, showing great mercy, but God’s mercy does not cancel out his justice. May we respond to God’s call and his shaping hand in our lives so that he will find us full of good fruit.
We close our time in 1 Thessalonians with the blessing Paul gives at the end of the letter. When all is said and done, God requires not just that we are good, but that we are holy. The final blessing connects the themes of Hope and Holiness, but it’s much more than a wish. The blessing is a promise that God himself will complete the progression he began in us. God is our only hope when it comes to holiness, and God Will Finish It.