God calls us to Himself and initiates a love relationship with us that is meant to be reciprocal and mutual. And though we are commanded throughout the entirety of the scriptures to love Him back, He never forces us. For like most of us, God desires that our love for Him is genuine and free from the resentment of being coerced.
I’ve often thought about my love for God and whether I do a good job at expressing that love. Yes, I pray, I sing songs of praise, I give to the church, and I attend services weekly, but are these things evidence enough that I deeply love my Lord? Indeed, these things are outward demonstrations that ought to flow out of a love for God, but weighed by themselves, they are at best simply proof that I am religious. The truth is that a devout believer in any of the world’s plethora of religions could say he/she does very similar things in order to show devotion to the deity he/she worships. Therefore, my acts of service can quickly evolve into a mere form of godliness or routine tasks induced by duty, if the internal factor is missing from the equation.
This internal factor is, of course, my heart. In Matthew 15, Jesus teaches on the importance of the state of the heart in validating our actions towards Him. I find it’s so easy to become busy serving God while simultaneously losing our passion for Him. We sing for Him, teach Sunday school for Him, have concerts for Him, and even preach about Him, but all the time our heart is safely tucked away from His reach.
“Martha, Martha”, Jesus said softly as He gently corrected his hard-working host on her attitude. “There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it…” and that is to love the master enough to sit at His feet (Luke 10:41-42). What we must understand is that though our labour in the Kingdom is appreciated and does not go unnoticed, God only regards the worship of our mouth and the service of our hands after He has first viewed the condition of our heart. For this reason, the greatest commandment is to love the Lord God with everything that is within us, for in so doing the river of our activities will flow as a love offering directly from our heart to His.
Is your heart consumed with activity, or with love? Admittedly, it is difficult to quietly remain at his feet when there is so much to do and take care of in the Kingdom, but our love for God should compel us to sit with Him often and hear from His lips what His will and purpose is.
Today, be driven by your love for God and by your burning passion for Him. Spend quality time in His presence and allow your relationship with Him to grow beyond the realm of activity to the realm of intimacy.
Scripture of the Day: “But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him..” - 1 Corinthians 8:3
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