Understanding Our Love for God
How are we to love God when we can't see Him? That ought to be a great concern for each of us, since Jesus told us that the greatest command was to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. I believe this proves to us that love is not just a feeling. It is a decision we make from the depths of our being. We see how God loved us by sending His Son to be our Savior and Lord. We are so grateful for His love that we desire to love Him in return. We put Him first in our life, and we set out to relate to Him on a daily basis. We find out what pleases God and what He wants us to do, and we do it out of love for Him. John told us how to do this. (I John 5:3) He told us that our love for God is to keep His commandments, and His commands are not a burden to us. I am not sure we could get a more concise answer to our question about how to love God. Let's see what we can learn from this.
When we are in love with another person, we have to spend time with them to get to know them fully. We talk about everything and gradually we get to know them well, so that we know what to do for them and what makes them happy. Then, we express our love for them by doing those things for them and with them. The same is true when we love God. We spend time with Him in prayer, and we spend time with Him in His Word, the Bible. As we relate to Him and read the Bible, we see what He has commanded us to do, and we do it gladly. The commands are not burdens to us. We want to keep them, because they came from the One we love. As we keep His commands, we are expressing our love for the Lord, and it is a joy for Him to see us doing His will. Therefore, if we love the Lord, we will keep His commandments out of love for Him, not as a burden or a duty. The opposite is also true. We can't say that we love the Lord, if we are not keeping His commands. That is simple isn't it? If we are keeping God's commands, we are loving Him. If we do not keep His commands, we don't really love Him.
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Tomorrow, I intend to read II John, III John, and Jude.