“And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul”
(Deuteronomy 10:12)
Reflection:
God wants
- a people to love and to bless
- a people who will let Him love and bless them
- a people who will love and bless Him
If all God wanted was a bunch of fearful servants He would not have created us as He did – in His image. Again and again we find that God is looking for a relationship with people – with those who can enter into and enjoy a relationship with Him, and become an essential part of the outworking of His great and glorious plans for His creation. In essence it is His saying to us that ‘I made you like Me so that you could become a part of Me.’ And we catch this vision in our Lord’s picture of the Vine and the branches, and Paul’s description of believers as the Body of Christ who is the Head.
It goes on as we see believers referred to as no longer servants but as friends (John 15:15); then as the children of God and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16-17; 1 John 3:1); and finally as the Bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 19:7)
The first thing is for us to become aware of and appreciate His glory, His majesty, His power, His supreme authority, and His quite inconceivable love. This is not because He needs it but because we do. We need to see Him in all His glory because it is so wonderful, so good, so joyous and so uplifting and life-enhancing, and there is nothing to surpass it. There is a vision of this in the progressive adoration of believers as they exclaim
“We praise You. We bless You. We adore You. We glorify You.
We give thanks to You for Your great glory”
As we begin to perceive and receive more of the glory and love of God in our spirits the response is one of reciprocal love, and not servitude as the world knows it. It is not a form of unwilling slavery but of joy-filled service. We give our lives and hearts to Him because there is nothing better or even approaching it to which, or to whom, we would want to devote them.
Then it is as He continuously pours His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5) that our hearts begin to respond and open to Him like a bud unfurling beneath the attracting rays of the sun. And we find that we begin to really love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19)
Everything else is like a passing shadow – He alone is our life, our love, our joy and our fulfilment.
Response:
It all begins with a true vision of God
Prayer:
Father God, please open my spirit, my heart and my mind to the wonder of Your glory and Your love – and help me to receive, recognise and respond to You with all that I am. Amen.
———————–
The Soaring Eagle 