Many people think getting saved is to keep them from going to hell. Hell is living without Jesus. That life brings its own torment.

11 My child, do not despise the LORD’s discipline, and do not resent His rebuke, 12 because the LORD disciplines those He loves, as a Father the child He delights in [like we talked about yesterday, when we wander away, He comes and gets us].

We are called to “trust in the LORD with all our hearts and to lean not on our own understanding; in all our ways we are to acknowledge (submit to) Him, and He will make our paths straight as He directs us” (Proverbs 3:5-6). This is how we live for Christ. In fact, He died for everyone so that we would “no longer live for ourselves, but for Him who died for us and was raised again” (2 Corinthians 5:15).

How do we live for Him? Actually, we can’t; not without Him. We live for Christ by living with Christ. It’s a partnership, a friendship, a mentorship, and a marriage all wrapped up in a relationship with Him. Jesus doesn’t need us to do anything for Him; He wants to include us in what He is doing. What is He doing? Loving people where they are and taking them further into His love.

In the words of Linda Free (I love her last name), “We just gotta love’em where they’re at, not where we want’em to be.” Jesus loves us where we are, but He loves us too much to leave us where we are. The whole idea is to grow up in love, living in His love, sharing His love, and even demonstrating His love–the sacrificial kind.

I know it’s short today, but living for Christ with Christ is the bottom line for Christians. It’s how we are known both by the Father and by the world. In Jesus’ own words,

³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. 
As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 
³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,
if you love one another.” John 13:34-35

Lord, if we could just stop focusing on salvation and get to the fellowship, I think people would find that being Yours is a lot of fun and incredibly satisfying. You are not an ogre, nor are You an angry God. Your disciple, John, whom You love dearly, said that You are Love incarnate. If we want to know what You are like, Abba, we are to look at Jesus. Jesus was–and is–gentle and humble in heart; in Him we can find rest for our souls (Matthew 11:28-30). May we rest in Your loving arms, Abba. Jesus, show us the way; Spirit, fill us and enable us to walk with Jesus all the way. Amen.