One bite at a time.

As I began to think about studying the Fruits of the Spirit, I became overwhelmed with ideas of where to begin.  Then I thought I would work at this study the same way I would eat an elephant -- One bite at a time.

I thought the best way to begin was to look up Love in a Bible concordance since this is the first Fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5.  WOW!!  So many entries.  Surely God has something to say about Love.  So, just like when eating that elephant, I'm gonna take this one bite at a time.

When I think of Love, I think of that warm, mushy feeling you get when you are staring at that special someone across the room and catch their eye.  You know, when your heart is about to pound out of your chest!  Or of the first time your eyes meet those of your newborn child.  Love in an instant!  Although there is nothing wrong with these feelings, I'm not sure this is exactly all God wants me to know about Love.  So let's dig in and see what God had to say today.

Bite #1:  I started with Genesis 22:2, the first mention of Love in the Bible. This is the passage where God is telling Abraham to take Isaac up to the land of  Moriah and sacrifice him there.  Can you imagine taking the child that you have waited for all of your life and climbing the hill on which to slay him?  I can't even begin to let my mind wander there.  I know that Abraham must have had great faith in the God he served to make such a trip.  Faith and love!  He loved God enough to take his precious boy on this journey.  He loved God enough to tell the men that went with them the he and his son would go ahead and worship and then THEY would be back.  Did Abraham somehow know that God was going to provide another way? Is that what LOVE does?  Does it believe that the impossible can happen?  Does it know that God will always provide another way?  The right way?  Lesson learned:  Love is not just a feeling.  Love is an action and Abraham acted on his love for Jehovah God!!  I'm not sure that I love like Abraham did but I sure want to learn too.  

 Not much of that elephant was eaten today but I sure did get full on what I had.  I can't wait to see what God has in store when I pull up to the table tomorrow!