LOVING JESUS IN FEAR AND TREMBLING
John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Jesus is giving us an illustration of our relationship with him as Christians. Becoming a Christian is so easy that a child can do it, but it isn’t so easy that we don’t have to work it out with fear and trembling. (Phil 2:12) Our fear and trembling isn’t that God will change his mind about us,and send us to hell despite our love and trust in him. We tremble over the thought of how close we were to spending eternity in hell without Jesus, where we would forever be in great sorrow and torment.
We tremble over the thought of how weak we are in regards to falling into temptation and sinning against the Lord. We tremble when we see others so much more mature in their Christ-likeness and their wonderful love for Jesus. We tremble when we think how Jesus left his throne in glory to die such a terrible death for us.
We fear the thought of becoming complacent in our love and devotion to Jesus. We fear the thought of hurting Jesus with our careless words and actions that might drive others away from him. We fear of his wrath to come that will consume the earth with fire.
Most of all we fear and tremble over the thought that we might turn from Jesus as countless others have to only end up worse than if we had ever become a Christian. As Hebrews 10:29-31 says, “How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay, and again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” We might say that it’s all about free will and we wouldn't be too far from being wrong, but it is really all about love. It is our love for Jesus and his love for us. Without his love for us we have no life now or for eternity. Jesus not only created us and gave us life, but he sustains us as well. (Heb 1:3 & Col 1:17) Nothing can survive without Jesus keeping it going. It was no little thing when Jesus was so terribly mocked, abused and nailed to Calvary’s cross left to die. What must of God’s holy angels , God the Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit thought when they saw it all happen. Would he strike out in righteous anger and destroy everything with a single word? Would the Heavenly Father strikeout against humanity, or the Holy Spirit draw away leaving only evil to dwell on earth? It all hinged on Jesus’ love for his creation.
Now it all hinges on our love for Jesus. We can stay true to him and love him with all our heart, soul mind and strength, or we can turn from him. He will let us turn from him! John 6:66 reminds us that many of his disciples turned from him while he was ministering here on earth. People turn from him every day. Some become angry at him for something they felt he did or didn’t do. For some it is more of a drifting away. Jesus even said it would happen when he gave the parable of the sower. (Lk8:1-15)
No one who becomes a Christians ever does it with the expectation of later rejecting him. No one marries someone with the expectation of a future divorce. It always start with the intention of till death do us part, but sometimes it finishes far earlier than that. The death of our relationship with Jesus is much more severe. A Christian’s divorce with Jesus will end up with eternal death in hell. Often sad to say some people will play with love. They see it as a harmless endeavor where only physical gratification comes about. This always ends with hurt feelings, and a more sceptical outlook on the reality of being able to trust someone with our love. This of course was never God’s intention. This is one reason why King Solomon says not to ignite love before its time. Love is not to be played with, or used as a tool to manipulate someone. It shouldn’t be done to people and certainly not God!
Our relationship with Jesus is much like with our husband or wife. We must spend time together, talking, laughing, enjoying each other. It doesn’t happen overnight, nor is it meant to. It is a daily blessing we get, and one we must work at even with fear and trembling to keep. This is for relationships with other people as well as with Jesus, the Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit.
We see in the parable of the sower, really only one out of four really become fruitful. (Lk 8:1-15) There are so many things that can go wrong in any relationship, and this certainly includes our with Jesus! The thing is it doesn’t have to be that way for human relationships or with Jesus. We have to work at it that’s all. One thing we can count on is that Jesus will not let us down on his part. What we have to worry about is letting him down! So where does all this lead us? John 15 goes on to tell us that when we no longer bear fruit or put Jesus first in our life, God will begin to trim things back in our life. Those thing that are pulling us away from Jesus, we will find them bringing us frustration and sorrow. If we can’t handle our blessings from the Lord, he will take them away. Because Jesus cherishes our love and relationship with him he will jealously try to keep us, and if that means trimming us back some he will. And if we will not respond to that he will simply let us go and our love for him will die, much like the love of a husband for his wife once he begins to commit adultery with someone else.
Once that happens verse 6 say all that remains is for us to be thrown into the fire.
Has your love for Jesus continued to grow, or has your passion for him been replaced by something else? You love for Jesus is worth fighting for. Whatever it takes make Jesus the focus of your being. If you need to find a new church where you can be with more passionate Christians and pastor then don’t blink an eye. Your loyalty lies with Jesus not a building or family tradition. If watching TV is taking you away from reading your Bible or praying just shut it off. Whatever needs to be done just do it. Eternity in hell is not worth it, but eternity with Jesus certainly is!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for loving us so much! Please help us to only love you more for as long as we exist. We love you Jesus!
