Recently we had an amazing night of Dangerous Questions.  The questions were real.  The discussion was open and deep.  We were able to hear God's message to us through the process.  As a result, I had two friends come to me at separate times and basically ask the same question.  "If you believe in God, and in Jesus as His Son, if you live your life to please Him, and accept His sacrifice for your sins, if you believe and live the Christian life as best as you can, do have to love God in order to be accepted in heaven?"

At first glance, you may think this question trivial.  Far from it.  My friends were asking because there was something deep within them that said that if they had to be honest with themselves, they didn't love God like they love other people or other things.  This is really a very deep and courageous question.  It is one each of us should ask ourselves.  "Do I love God like I love my kids, my spouse, my friends?  Can I say that I love God more than anything else in my life?  And if not, then should I be concern?"

At first, I didn't know how to answer them.  I know that God desires a loving relationship with us.  His love for us is deeper and more personal than we can ever imagine.  It was His love for us that caused Him to give His Son for us.  And I know that the greatest commandment in the Bible is to "love God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, and all your strength."  But nowhere does it say you must love God to be saved from judgment.  In fact, most people (if not all) come to Him out of repentance which is an act of submission, not of love.

I know this subject is too big for one email, but I came across one principle that I felt compelled to share with you.  Jesus said in John 15:15, "I no longer call you servants ... Now you are my friends."  Then later, in John 17, Jesus prays that we will become "one with him as he is with the Father".  In other words, each of us starts our relationship with God as a servant in His Kingdom.  But we are called to something much deeper.  We are called to grow from servant to friend to the intimacy of "oneness".  God desires that our relationship with him deepens as we walk with Him.  Yet so many of us stay with the relationship we gained when we first entered His Kingdom, the relationship of a servant.  We never experience the "friendship" of God.  And very few find the intimate love associated with "oneness."

It is God's desire and plan for us to love Him and to experience His love for us in such a reality that it makes all other loves in our lives pale by comparison.  If we truly believed this, truly believed that it is possible and accessible, then would we still be content to walk with so little realized passion and love for Him? 

I want to encourage you today to not be content with your relationship with Him.  There is something more than a servant relationship, more than even a friend relationship (which in itself is amazing).  There is the intimacy of "oneness". 

Spend time in His presence.  Ask Him to make your love for Him real.  Get to know Him through the scriptures and through prayer, and in getting to know him watch your heart fall in love with Him as you recognize His love for you.  Determine now to grow from wherever you are in relationship with Him to a deeper level of love and passion.  If you will pursue Him, you will quickly find that He has already pursued you and is simply waiting for you to respond.  Love Him ... ... ... He already loves you.

Coram Deo,

Bruce 

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