Love One Another--Seriously

My dad died a few days ago, and I miss him. He and I weren't very close, even though we lived together for the last 20 years. He was not an easy person to get along with, and had his share of faults, and his stoic way of dealing with things made him seem rather unfeeling, except for his own needs and wants (how often we are so annoyed with our own faults as we see them in others). And in his later years, his failing health and stubbornness became more of a burden than anything else, and I often wondered why he was hanging around for so long, except perhaps for spite.

But ten years or so ago, he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He was in the hospital at that time, and our pastor went to visit him and led him to the Lord. To this day, I stand on the promise of Romans 10:9 "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" and I know that my dad is now in heaven with our Lord. But in all the years between then and now, I let him down.

He came home from that hospital stay and told me that something very special had happened to him and that the pastor had said I would tell him more about it. But I didn't. I let my own feelings and difficulties with this man dictate how I treated someone who, whatever history we had, was now far more than my earthly father--he was my brother in Christ. But I didn't treat him that way, and I can't help but feel that I denied him a lot of years of peace and joy and the hope of heaven. I have no doubt that our Lord didn't let him down, but I sure did. And I stand today ashamed before my dad, and before God. I rejoice that my dad stands in the presence of the Lord. And I weep that I chose to allow my own feelings to rob him of spending his last years in peace.

I am reluctant to offer a closing verse this time--but the truth remains what it is. Jesus didn't tell us to pick and choose how to live our lives--He told us to follow Him.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
-John 13:34-35