To Love God to Stand Beside Him

God lives and works today, and God suffers today, too. Does that sound strange to your ears? If you loved someone, wouldn't you be hurt if that person rejected your love, and not only rejected it, but ridiculed it, mocked you, and pretended you didn't exist? Today's meditation by Basilea Schlink is a call to all those who want to love God. In many cases today, it's those who say that they belong to Jesus who are causing Him the greatest suffering.

His heart is deeply wounded by countless acts of slander in churches and church conferences, in theological schools and Christian magazines. The commandments of God, the proclamations of His will, are being publicly scorned. Also, our Lord Jesus Himself, He, the eternal Son of God, majestic and holy, is being made to appear ridiculous in various forms today on stage.

And thousands of Christians as well as non-Christians find it uproariously funny. Again, Jesus is being crowned with a crown of thorns. Again, the cries of ridicule are descending upon Him from all sides.

But the cries of mockery that often come out of His church are uglier than those which stem from the atheists. In Gethsemane, the disciples deserted Jesus. Today, thousands and hundreds of thousands are deserting Him.

Again, Jesus is suffering the agony of Gethsemane. When Jesus suffered in the garden of Gethsemane 2,000 years ago, He went to His disciples and asked them with a grief-filled heart, Do you want to sleep now? Can't you watch with me for just one hour? In other words, can't you understand how heavy my heart is? Can't you suffer with me now? Who hears the lament of Jesus' heart which resounds in Psalm 69? I looked for comforters, but I found none. Today also, Jesus appears before each of us and calls to us individually.

Do you want to rest and sleep also, now when your Lord and Savior is suffering, when He is betrayed and forsaken? What are you doing for Me? You don't stand by My side. You don't go with Me when I am accused before the judges. Are you really My disciple? Jesus is waiting for us to stand by Him as John stood by Him beneath the cross.

As the psalm says, He is waiting for comforters. Today, Jesus is waiting for those who can say, My Lord Jesus, I won't let this ridicule fall upon You. I will take Your place and be scorned in Your stead.

When Your commandments and everything that comes from You are being despised and trampled underfoot, I want to cherish Your commandments and live according to them as never before. When prayer and adoration are scorned, I want to endeavor to spend more time worshiping and adoring You in word and song every day. Yes, today our Lord Jesus is suffering.

Therefore, we must love Him in this time more than ever before. Will you bring comfort to His wounded heart by standing beside Him when thousands of others are deserting Him? Love to You, our love we proffer, Such as we no other offer, Love for all Your love. You have been listening to a program written by Basilea Schlink of the Little Land of Canaan.

To learn more about how God lives and works today, visit us at our website, www.canaan.org. That's K-A-N-A-A-N dot org. If you contact us, we would be happy to send you a free inspirational booklet. If you do not have access to the web, please contact this radio station for our postal address.

God bless you.