1 Peter 5:7 Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.
I lost sleep on the early morning of January 7th. And as I twisted and turned, the above verse came to my spirit.
Instantly, I heard Jesus say, “I care for you affectionately, and not responsibly.”
I sat up on my bed; wondering ‘what now!’
Gently, He led on,
“Notice that not every one who cares responsibly particularly cares affectionately. Someone could be responsible for paying tuition for an orphan or a nephew or niece or cousin; but from a distance, or out of duty.”
The key word here is ‘duty.’ Duty doesn’t necessarily call for affection. It calls for obligation. People can carry out their duties without emotion. It is because it has to be done or it has to get done! Growing up; sometimes we never loved doing dishes — but we had to do them.
Now, if Jesus cared for you responsibly, that means He cares for you from a place of duty. ‘I care for you because I have to.’ And for duty — like a job — someone could ask for leave, or quit, when it gets too overwhelming. It’s this subjection to another will, having to show up even when you don’t like the ‘damn’ job or boss.
You can’t wait for the public holiday or weekend. Just to have time to your own will and do what you love. The other side of the coin is; this duty comes with payment. You may not like the job, but the rent has to be paid, and your stomach must be filled. So you may not like the job, but you have to — anyway.
But when Jesus says He cares for us affectionately, He is doing it out of LOVE. The governing factor here is ‘love.’ As long as it remains, it’ll fuel the caring. This love is patient and kind and enduring. Duty isn’t patient sometimes. Workers clock out at 4:30 — when it’s 30 minutes prior to the meant time. Duty isn’t kind once in a while: People might have to step on some toes to get to higher officers, to get a better salary since part of it had already been going to that distant orphan or cousin they were forced to care for. Duty isn’t enduring sometimes. That’s why people quit!
Love on the other hand ‘endures all things.’ Here Jesus says ‘I care for you because I love to’ (Not because He has to — as duty defines). Here, Jesus pays to have a reward, unlike for duty where one is paid for a reward. Ezekiel 16 talks of Israel being a prostitute that pays men to sleep with her. It is meant to be the other way round; but this is exactly what Jesus means by caring for you affectionately.
He so loved you that He gave Himself for you. He paid to have the reward which was you! O that you may understand the degree of this sacrifice and the root of His care! And when you have understood that, you’ll find it so easy to cast your cares and concerns to Him.
‘… for He cares for you’ makes more sense if we break it down in simplicity. ‘To care’ means; to be concerned about, to have an interest in, to want or desire, to look after or watch out for.
Now these don’t shed the spotlight on the difference unless we add the adverb: either responsibly or affectionately.
‘I am concerned about you affectionately’ is way different from ‘I am concerned about you responsibly.’ To be interested in something affectionately differs from being interested in it responsibly.
Shockingly, Jesus added, that ‘responsibly’ may eliminate the place of love, but ‘affectionately’ includes the place of responsibility. ‘Responsibly’ could be knowing the entire law, for one as a priest. ‘Affectionately’ goes beyond just knowing the law; it applies it.
‘If you love me, obey my commandments…’
‘Affectionately’ is like saying ‘water has oxygen’ but ‘responsibly’ is like saying oxygen has water. The latter has eliminated hydrogen, thus it’s merely a gas, and it can’t claim to have greater than what it is composed of.
‘Affectionately’ comprises of responsibility, but ‘responsibly’ doesn’t necessarily comprise of love like I already mentioned. It’s a lesser adverb when brought close to the former.
Jesus cares for us from such a deep dimension of love, and if you know what love is, then you can surely trust that He can handle all you’d concerns. It is written that God’s love bears all things. I actually doubt if ‘responsibility’ can bear all things. It quickly shuts down anything contrary or a burden one isn’t willing to bear.
Love never fails. That means it can’t fail to offload you of the burden you bear. This love can fix it all. It can be trusted; trusted to handle all your cares! And that’s what Jesus has stated to care for you by and through — love, love, love.
O that He may melt you with this love!
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