“Can’t stop thinking about her”. “She’s incredibly beautiful.” “She’s all I got and all I need.” “His charm is breathtaking.” “Spending time with him is my moment of ecstasy.” “I can’t imagine life without him.” “Thinking about her is a pure delight.” “He’s handsome, funny and caring.” “He’s the one!”…
The list of things lovers say about each other is endless. The spiritually minded among us would say things like: “She is my Proverbs31 woman”. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just listen to those love songs being played every day on the radio and you’ll hear things people say when they’re ‘in love’. I’m not against this at all; I’m just amazed at how passionate we are about this.
I was thinking about how less people express their feelings about God with the same amount of energy and passion. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I heard someone telling me about the love he has for God, burning inside him. If everyone says that they love God, and never express it passionately in word or action then there might be inconsistencies in this; we might not only deceive our audience, but also ourselves.
“How do I love God?” You might ask. Complicated answers have no appeal in here. This, as the love expressed toward a person, naturally flows from within. When you love God, you love his company; you love spending time with him in prayer. You love thinking about him, his character and deeds. You love to listen to his voice from his holy Word. You love to study him and love finding out what pleases him. If you love him, self-sacrifice for him will follow. You’ll enjoy telling your friends and family about him. You will give him—willingly and joyfully— the most precious things you have: time, resources… It’ll prove not to be enough and so you’ll give him everything: your life; which won’t do either—but that’s alright because that’s all you have.
“Why love him?” Because he first loved you and displayed unfailing and extravagant love towards you. He gave his most valuable possession: his Son! I wouldn’t finish if I start talking about his love; because it ‘surpasses all knowledge’ (Eph3:19).
“Can’t I just keep the love I have for God down to myself? You know… Keep it cool?” It’s interesting to find that we get that passionate about people when we’re ‘in love’ and not get passionate at all about God. Jesus said something about this: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me isn’t worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”(Mat10:37).
I’d like to close this short post by reminding you that “if anyone has no love for the Lord (Jesus-Christ), let him be accursed…” (1 cor16:22) and that “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.’ (Mat22:37-38)
Won’t you love on God today?
Image credit: Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39) - JohnNineTwentyFive. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0/ Slightly Modified.
