I love Paris...

As I look out into the garden from the warmth of my lounge at the blue sky, the sunshine falling on the grass, the green shoots and blossom on the trees and the grass growing to the point it needs cutting I get excited at the prospect of Spring. Being a person who loves music and in a sense has a soundtrack to my life, I remember the song I Love Paris written by Cole Porter in 1953 and memorably sung by Ella Fitzgerald. The song speaks of the singers love for the city of Paris and I must say that I share some of the sentiments in that song; despite being brought up in London I am not a fan of cities, however I am strangely drawn to the eclectic and often bohemian environment of Paris and would love to spend more time there.

Paris aside, we are witnessing a change in the season and as the writer of Ecclesiastes puts it:

“There is a time for everything,

    and a season for every activity under the heavens” 

Ecclesiastes 3:1         

Whilst there is a “time for everything, a season for every activity” this cannot be applied to love. Jesus calls us to love each other, but is our love, the love that we express for each other, for God, for his church seasonal? Do we love our brother and sister when the sun is shining into our relationship and the relationship is bearing fruit, but when the storms come, the rain, the hail and the cold, are we still able to maintain that relationship? When things get difficult, when someone says something or does something I don’t like does my relationship go into hibernation or do I press on through that? When our brother and sister upsets us in some way it can not only result in a broken relationship, but can also see one or both parties bearing a grudge, a grudge that is held for years eating away at both parties and giving the devil a victory.

Jesus understood that his command “love one another” would not result in all Christians becoming happy-clappy, love everybody, sugar and spice people, we had to work at this and make conscious decision. No! Jesus fully understood relationships in the context of the human condition and teaches emphatically on this. In Matthew 5:21-26 he instructs that showing anger towards a brother or sister, or bearing a grudge is as serious as murder. I think we often overlook how serious it is when a relationship with a brother or sister breaks down, which is strange in the light of Jesus’ instruction, its as if we allow our relationships to be seasonable.

Perhaps as the weather gets warmer, the days get longer, the whole world seems to become more colourful and cheery its an opportunity to look at those relationships that have broken down and are permanently in winter and seek to restore them. After all, Gods love towards us is not seasonal, he will “never leave us nor forsake” in spite of our behavior towards him.

We also should remember the consequences of our actions, the consequences of disobedience toward God, the consequence of our sin, we may find ourselves subject to God’s judgement and punishment.