What is love? So often we think of just the emotion, the feeling. O how I love the feeling of love! It's wonderful! It's powerful! How I love the feeling of "feeling" in love with Jesus. But Jesus makes it clear over and over again that it is not the feeling of love that he longs for from me. It is the practice of love that leads me to walk in holiness and obedience to his will.
Jesus asked us clearly, "Why do you call me Lord and not do what I say?" In other words, "Why do you say you love me when you don't follow me?" It was a big theme in John's writings too; "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." (John 14.15) In the mind of Jesus true love for him translates into commitment to His will.
So what does that mean for you and me? Just this. It doesn't mean too much that we read our Bibles daily or even pray... It doesn't mean too much that we raise our hands in worship or sing praises with great emotion and even if tears run down our cheeks... It doesn't bless the Lord too much if our heart is full of emotion but our lives are riddled with sin.
Don't get me wrong-- we still fall short of God's perfection and He knows this. I don't want us to be burdened down with a false sense guilt. In fact, in the Lord Jesus there is supposed to be rest and peace and joy as we trust him for our salvation. If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all our failures! Praise God for that truth! But I'm really not talking about the stumblings we endure because of our sinful nature. I'm talking about the outright rejection of what we know is His will for us. True love deals with it!
So, my challenge to all of us is to love Jesus. To look forward to and wallow in the experience of loving Him! To raise our hands in praise and feel his love and express our own love emotionally. But even as we do that, let's not forget that the true foundation of loving Jesus is walking in what we know to be His will. If you know what His heart is, then do it!
