Fri, Mar 31st - 8:08PM

Developing Passion for God

One of the best-loved passages of the Old Testament is the Shemma: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (Deut 6:4-5). It was this commandment, rather than one of the Ten, that Jesus chose when challenged as to which was the greatest commandment of the law. All the commands of God ask for our obedience, but this one goes far beyond that: this one asks for our passion.

There are many who serve God only out of duty. That is certainly better than not serving Him at all, but it goes nowhere near the kind of relationship that God desires us to have with Him. He desires that every part of our being – spirit, soul and body – should be passionately committed to Him.

How do we develop that kind of relationship with God? How do we fall madly in love with Him? The same way as we would fall in love with another person – by spending time with Him, and getting to know all the wonderful things about Him. Falling in love with a person requires, to some extent, putting on "rose-coloured glasses" - we overlook the faults and problems of that person, seeing only the good points. With God, no rose-coloured glasses are necessary, for He has no faults or problems. All we need to do is to look closer and closer at Him, seeing more and more of His greatness and goodness.

We can begin by looking around us. Romans tells us that, even if we had never had the revelation of God in Scripture, He has placed enough evidence of Himself in the world around us to point us to a rudimentary faith.

Stand outside on a cloudless night and look at the stars. Try to count them. Consider that many of them are many times the size of our sun, and that, although they seem so close to our eyes, they are millions of miles apart. Let them draw you to think abut the greatness of the Creator.

Hold a rose in your hand. Marvel at its delicate perfection. Dwell for a moment on the fact that, whilst it has aspects that make it clearly a rose, and identify it as a particular type of rose, yet it is totally unique. There is no other rose exactly like this one! Consider also that the rose is only one of thousands of kinds of flowers, some big and flashy, others so tiny and delicate that they are barely noticed by man. Allow yourself to worship God both for His creativity and for the diversity of His creation.

We can move then to the Word of God, for though general revelation can point us toward God, only the specific revelation of His Word shows Him clearly. Read again the familiar stories: Noah and the arc, Moses and the deliverance of Israel, the Judges and God's deliverance of the nation, the prophets and God's righteousness. Read not only as stories that you probably know so well, but read to see the character and attributes of God. Let them speak to you afresh of God's power, His glory, His holiness, His justice.

Move on to the New Testament and God's completed revelation in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Allow the words of Philippians 2 to move you as you consider that He gave up all the privilege and power of Godhead and clothed Himself with the frailness of humanity in order to come to earth, for the specific purpose of dying in the place of sinful man. Ask the Holy Spirit to make real to you what every step in that process cost. Remind yourself that, even if you had been the only person on the earth who needed salvation, Jesus would have done the same things, just to save you.

Finally, contemplate all that God has done in your own life. Think about the things He did for you before you ever knew Him: His provision, care and protection. Think of the gift of life itself, and of all that He has given you in the course of that life. Most of all, consider how He drew you to Himself, how He arranged the circumstances of your life so that you would ultimately be drawn to surrender to Him and receive all that He was longing to give you.

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you, and spend time in these exercises regularly. As you do, you will find your heart being drawn more and more toward the Lord. You will find yourself falling more and more in love with Him.

© Lynn Fowler 2006

Rev. Lynn Fowler is the Founder and International Director of Glory to the King Ministries International. Visit us at http://glorytotheking.com

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