Nougat 18

Today’s Holy Nougat asks a lot, but not more than Jesus has done.

“But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭6‬:‭35‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Incentivized

So far those of us who need to be incentivized for doing good, here it is. If it is not naturally possible to love our enemies, says Peter, look at the perks – we become Children of the Most High. And there are some great unmentioned rewards attached. Like what, you ask. Well, we’ve covered some of that ground before, so I’m more intrigued by the idea of becoming Children of the Most High God.

John 1:12 indicates that it is by believing and accepting Jesus we can guarantee our becoming Children of the Most High. And that’s true. In fact, I would say it’s Part A. (And no, this isn’t a scam that has us doing all these different challenges or activities like a hamster stuck on a never ending cycle – to no avail – because we never qualify.) Part B can be considered as the maturation process, making that belief and acceptance aspect the birthing or adoption process.

Thus we ‘grow’ more and more into God’s likeness, just as children look and act more like their family over time. So, since our resemblance is not as much about DNA as it is about spiritual mannerisms, we seek to reflect God’s nature in our DNA. HELLO, Hello, hello! Please place a quick pause as I remind us – this is NOT about sacrificing a child, rather – God became human in a way we could see and understand and loved us while we were at enmity with God (see Romans 5:8-9). It is on these grounds that we love our enemies, and that over time I suspect.

The likeness doesn’t stop at loving our enemy (which does not stop at mere words), but invites actions: doing good and lending to others. I remember years ago being told don’t lend what cannot be given, and definitely do NOT borrow that which can’t be repaid. What I hear Peter saying is similar to that principle, though I can’t help but wonder if the doing good and the lending is connected to loving our enemies.

Oy yoy yoy!

Can you imagine?! Some of us will lose loads of starch and cantankerousness if we grow more like God in this way. (I do recall feeling justified in rising to my full 5’5”glorious height and placing offensive persons in their place! Ouch! No more of that eh). And that’s exactly what will allow some of us to be recognized as Children of the Most High; because we have thrown off the old nature.

Jesus!

Only You! Only *because* of You and for sure, only *by* Your Spirit can this become reality! Over to You Jesus! Over to You. Jesus please intervene.

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May all we seek be found in Christ