Читать книгу Hear the Ancient Wisdom - Charles Ringma - Страница 40

February 1

A Bond of Love

There are many things that can bind a person to another.

Convention and fear are two such things. But love and friendship is the life-giving bond.

Peter Abelard wrote: “So we, through his grace, are joined to him [God] as closely as to our neighbor by an indissoluble bond of affection.”32

This beautiful vision of friendship and connectedness does not mean God is like a “buddy.” God is the sovereign Lord. But our relationship with God, while marked by awe and mystery, is also one of friendship. Ultimately within the framework of grace, the true bond is one of love. Such a bond is life-giving and life-sustaining.

This love is God-initiated. It is God’s love shed abroad in our hearts that moves us to wait and long for the fuller presence of the living God. This love is grounded in Christ’s self-giving love for humanity. And this love is painted into the fabric of our lives by the beautifying Spirit. Thus we are birthed in love, we are woven in love, and love sustains us. Love marks our identity and our way of life.

Possibly, we could turn Abelard’s phrase around: because of the grace and love of God in Christ we are loved into a love for neighbor, stranger, and even our enemy. Hence, true service becomes a place of deep gratitude and empowerment to do for others what has so graciously been given to us.

Thought

To be a friend of God is an act of grace and calls for great humility. And the bond of friendship moves us to extend this kind of friendship to others. Friendship making thus becomes a way of life.