Tell me. Which end of the teeter-totter do you sit on?
For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.
2 Timothy 1:12
Some of us are content with the pure emotion of loving and experiencing our One and Only Lord. We love being enveloped in His embrace, His presence in a worship service, or being overwhelmed with His wondrous joy. For others of us, all that matters is that everything be tested, tried, and known true by the Scriptures. We are concerned that emotion tends to be fleshly or devilish and is more of a snare than a blessing in a believer’s life.
Let’s sit in the center on this teeter-totter with Paul. A student of God’s Word, he knew it backward and forward; upside-down and right-side up. Paul experienced the love of God shed lavishly in his heart in the Spirit’s power. He couldn’t have suffered for the gospel with such abandon if he hadn’t known the Savior, oh so personally. And yet, the power of God’s Word trumped his emotions when circumstances were out of control.
Are you a student? Are you a lover? With Jesus we gotta be both.