Blest be the tie...

"Blest be the tie that binds our heart in Christian love" - this is part of the first verse of a hymn that, in another time and place, our congregation sang at the end of each Communion service.  Standing holding hands, forming a cirlce around the pews in the church sanctuary, we sang these words of affirmation.  We were together, we had just celebrated a time of remembering Jesus, and now we stated aloud about how blessed we were to be there.  I always remember feeling so blessed, so... well, like church!

It reminds me of a chorus we once sang:
"Bind us together, Lord...with cords that cannot be broken". 
Asking God to make us one with each other, to give us a sense of loving togetherness - isn't that... church!

1 John 4:7a
Beloved, let us love one another...

Easy to read; easy to say; easy to do?  Not always, although we know in our hearts it is what we ought to be doing, don't we!  Sometimes people get under our skin - they say or do things that just grate on us, and we don't always feel so loving.  Sometimes we get under someone's skin - we say or do things that just grate on them, and they don't always feel so loved.  But the words of this Bible reading keep coming back to us: love one another.  Now wait, didn't we hear Jesus say just those words?

John 13:34
So now I am giving you a new commandment: love one another.

Not only that, but listen to what Jesus says next...

Just as I have loved you, love one another.

You see, Jesus is telling us to love each other the same way He loves us - completely, without condition.  Whoa... without condition?  But what if someone says...?  But what if someone does...?  But what if... three words we shouldn't be using, perhaps!  We are to love - period.  No ifs... no buts... no ands...  just love.  And seriously, why not?  Ask yourself:

• Do you love people unconditionally?
• If not, what conditions do you place on your love for them?
• If so, what makes it easy to do?  More difficult to do?

After all, Jesus loves you, so shouldn't you be able to love others too?  For the tie that binds us together - the love of Jesus - reaches to all people, and it keeps us close, together, loving... or at least it ought to! 

So, the next time you might be tempted to think something about someone that you shouldn't be thinking, remember the scene of people standing, holding hands, in a circle in church, singing those precious words:

Blest be the tie that binds!

PRAYER
God, search my heart and see if there is anything there that prevents me from loving your people.  Help me to love others as you love me.
Amen.