Thursday, February 23, 2012

Hail, guest...we love because He first loved us

This was on my flip calender for today:
WELCOME OVER THE DOOR OF AN OLD INN
Hail, Guest! We ask not what thou art;
If Friend, we greet thee, hand and heart;
If Stranger, such no longer be;
If Foe, our love shall conquer thee.
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What a wonderful greeting! I especially like the "we ask not what thou art"! How much ado the world makes of that, and how little the Lord does. For pleasantries' sake, it is fine, but it should never have a bearing on the scale of how much we love or give respect to another. May we always remember to love and greet one another as He did:
"Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.  For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' You shall not covet,' and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." ~Romans 13:8-10
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another." ~John 13:34
"Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;" ~Romans 12:10
"...with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,...." ~Ephesians 4:2

"And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all...." ~I Thess. 3:12