Ephesians 6:24 (NIV) Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

In closing out the powerful Book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul ends it with the verse above, which turns things around from what we usually think of concerning our Lord Jesus. What I mean is that when you think about a love that is undying, you immediately think of the love of God, but here, Paul is sending grace to all who love Jesus that way.

It's hard to imagine any human being, with all our faults, our hang-ups and a sinful nature to boot being able to love with an undying love. We usually think that this is something that is God-territory. But it does make you think about what kind of love you are loving Jesus with. After all that Jesus has done for us, does He deserve anything less? But we are human and our love falls short many times. There are scores of people who pledged their heart to Christ Jesus at one time but who didn't continue to love and serve Him. The parable of the seeds describes the different categories of people who initially were moved by the love of Jesus but who then fell away (Matthew 13). There's the seed that was taken away immediately, which represents people who heard the gospel and responded to it...for a moment. Then the moment was gone. Next are the ones who heard the gospel and reacted to it, even loving the Jesus that they heard about, but who didn't go deep enough with it and lost that love. Then there is the third kind of person who fell in love with Jesus, but who allowed the cares and worries of this life or the lure of wealth to cause their love for Jesus to die. That is a sad state of affairs because the love of Jesus and responding to His love is the essence of life.

So how do you love Jesus with an undying love? First, you have to be aware of your human condition. In other words, you must know that if you do not pursue your relationship with Jesus and if you don't cultivate love for Him, your love will not persevere. Our problem as human beings is our sinful nature and if we do not crucify it daily (Luke 9:23) by seeking to spend quality time with Jesus in prayer, in His Word and with our hearts and minds constantly set on heavenly things instead of earthly things (Colossians 3:1-2), then our love for Jesus will eventually die. If our love for Jesus dies, then we die because we will turn way from the only one that gives life.

Make sure that you love Jesus with an undying love because when you do, you will never die. Loving Him that way is easy when you expose yourself to His presence. King David talked about loving to go to the temple to gaze at the beauty of the Lord. Jesus is beautiful to behold and His love is better than life itself (Psalm 63:3). Just stay close to Jesus and covet His presence and your love will be an undying love that will carry you through this life and into eternity with Him. An undying love is the right and only way to love our Savior and our Lord.

Pastor Joey Vazquez