Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:8
There it stands…
The mall carousel …
Bright painted horses…
Ready for a bright, happy ride…
But first…
Like everything in the mall…
We have to pay the price for a carousel ride…
So my grandchildren and I stand in line at the ticket booth…
The carousel ride will be fun, I think.
Then I see the sign…
The sign with all the rules…
The sign says “No”…
Five times…
No Running…
No Switching Seats…
No Horsing around…
No Food
No Excessive spinning of the teacup…
At the bottom of the sign…
In small letters…
Almost an afterthought…
“Enjoy your carousel ride!”
Enjoy?
With all those rules?
Maybe the ride would be more fun If I broke all the rules!
“Run, Kids, Run,” I’d shout to my toddler grandchildren!
“Spin this teacup faster!”
“Reach out and touch that horse!”
On the other hand…
Being thrown off the carousel…
Taking home bruised and crying grandchildren…
Might not win me the loving grandparent of the year award…
If I love my grand kids…
How could I put them in danger?
How could I show them the wrong way to behave?
Maybe the rule of love is the answer to all the rules of life…
If we…
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ Mark 12:30
If we follow Jesus’ command to …
…‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Mark 12:31
How can we covet our neighbor’s wife or possession?
How can we murder?
Or steal?
Maybe that’s why Paul said…
For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:14
The rule of love …
What a beautiful way to ride through life…
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
