WALKING
The Threefold Sphere of Love
Love is the second great characteristic of God, and therefore of the Christian’s walk. We are exhorted to walk in love. Love to God, to our fellow-believers, to our fellowmen. Love to God shows itself in obedience. Obedience, to be worth anything, is the offspring of love. Thus alone Christ obeyed, and to His obedience are we set apart (1 Peter 1:2-4). Turning instinctively to God for direction in every event of life, waiting till we get it, and then following it. Such is the path of Psalm 32, and that of the obedient child; a path of security, of happiness, of freedom from care or anxiety though not from watchfulness. “Obedience,” too, “is better than sacrifice,” and it springs from “hearkening, which is better than the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22). It may not bring us much praise or credit, but it always pleases God, and even when we are “slow of understanding,” if the desire is to obey, the Lord will guide. This, then, is the proof of love to God, and a special blessing is reserved for those who thus walk (John 14:23). Love to our brethren is mostly shown in washing one another’s feet, this is the most delicate proof of real love that can be given, and the rarest (John 13). Love can be shown in the cup of cold water, in the offering of a sweet-smelling savor (Phil. 4:18), in caring for bodily or spiritual needs. The heart that is at leisure from itself, to soothe and sympathize, will readily discover the appropriate way of showing love. Love to the world at large is most shown in pointing them to Christ. Caring for the suffering and the poor is an essentially Christian duty, but care for the soul comes first, though it may not always be made the most prominent.
Such, then, is a brief and imperfect sketch of the Christian walk, all perfectly summed up in the three words, “as He walked.” This is the best direction of all “as He walked” in righteousness (Isa. 53:11), goodness (Matt. 19:16), truth (John 7:18), guiltlessness (Matt. 27:4), lowliness (Matt. 11:29), patience (Matt. 27:14), self-denial (Matt. 8:20), humility (Luke 22:27), obedience (John 4:34), compassion (Luke 19:41) benevolence (Matt. 4:23,24), and love (John 13:1).
May the Lord exercise our hearts to a more godly, truthful, and lowly walk in view of the nearness of His return.