I have been learning so much this week, I don’t even know where to begin....
God has caused the topic of His love to be brought up quite frequently: in my quiet time, in conversations with friends, in sermons I listen to, and as the subject of books I’m reading. As I’ve meditated on His love I have been both humbled and challenged. It is comforting and empowering to know that the God of the universe, the Holy One, loves me perfectly and completely. If I understand and sincerely believe that, then what have I to fear? With the love of God resting so heavily on me, nothing can stand in my way! (Romans 8:37-39)
But as I’ve meditated on the love of God, I have also thought long on what my response should be. How does a weak-willed, selfish little peon like me respond to God’s love for her? The obvious answer is to love God in return, as John writes in his first epistle: “We love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). It sounds simple enough, but when you start thinking about what loving God really looks like, what it actually requires, it’s not so easy.
Sure, I can get all warm and happy feeling about God’s love for me, but loving Him isn’t about having a warm, fuzzy feeling toward Him in return. God’s Word has much to say about loving Him, and there are many ways that such a love is manifested in the life of the believer. I couldn’t possibly share with you all the principles that I have been considering and studying from His Word, but if you’d like to do some further study of your own I suggest reading 1 John, the Gospels, and the book “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan.
As I have worked through and considered some of these things, I have found myself asking the question “If God is not the focal point of my existence, do I really love Him?” Loving God calls for obedience, sacrifice, and – in this world – loneliness. It is not the popular thing to do, the standard pattern for life, or the common cultural practice. Truly loving God may take you places no one else is going.
Honestly, that terrifies me.
My greatest fear is being alone. Yet the more I learn about God, the more I love Him, and the more I seek to live out that love for Him, the greater distance I see between me and the people around me. The question of whether or not I will love and follow God even if that means being utterly alone on this earth is an uncomfortable, but necessary one. As I write this even now, there are tears welling in my eyes and a lump forming in my throat because I know that I must choose to love and follow God, and Loneliness will indeed be my sometime companion on that journey.Labels: books, journal/quiet time, reflections