Jesus Lover

I read a post today by a friend and she said she doesn't have a religion, rather she is a Jesus Lover.  Now this isn't the first time I've heard this, more likely the 1,000th time, but what does "Jesus Lover" mean?

First, what does it mean to be religious?  Religion is the ritual observance of faith.  My friend is right, religion is not the answer.  Remember what Paul said to the people of Athens in Acts 17:22 "Men of Athens!  I see that in every way you are very religious."  See, they were religious but they didn't love Jesus.

So, what does it mean to be a Jesus Lover?  If this is the answer we should know what it means.  Far too often I think people love this term because it allows them to throw away doctrine and be sedative in their race toward Christ.  I want to know what it really means to be a Jesus Lover if I am going to hang my salvation on it.

John 14:15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command"

John 15:10 "If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in His love."

1 John 5:3 "This is love for God: to obey His commands.  And His commands are not burdensome."

Psalm 119:127 "... I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold."

To be a Jesus Lover is to obey His commands and to actually love His commands.  This seems hard, unless we actually believe that Jesus loves us.

1 John 2:15 "Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

To be a Jesus Lover not only should we love Jesus but we need to hate the world.  This does not mean we don't love the people of the world; rather we don't love the stuff of the world and the ways of the world."

Jesus and Peter talking.  John 21:17 "'Do you love me?' He said, 'Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you'  Jesus said 'Feed my sheep."

If we love Jesus we will feed His sheep.  This means if we are Jesus Lovers we will love His people.  His people are the Christians next door and the homosexual couple down the road and the dictator across the world and the starving child in the cold.

How much does a Jesus Lover love Jesus?

Deuteronomy 6:5 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."

How on earth can we do this?!

1 John 4:15-16 "If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us."

Did you get that?  We can only love like Deuteronomy says by "relying on the love God has for us."  He supplies us with the love to love.  We can't even be Jesus Lovers without relying on Jesus to give us the love to do it.  That's mind-blowing and truth.  We can't love Jesus without the love of Jesus.  He loves us first... always.

Finally, don't be religious.  Be Jesus Lovers.  But know that Jesus Lovers are doers.  Jesus loving is an active pursuit.  In this active pursuit the key is to be one step further today than the day before.  Love Jesus today.