God's Will Week Eighteen

What if I’m Goo and never make it to Good?

1 Thessalonians 5: 16-21

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but atest everything; hold fast what is good.

CRAZY Love – Francis Chan Chapter 5

Conditional love. We practice it all the time. I love you if…

I have a new kitten. She is a wild thing. She attacks us. Everyone who enters the house is malled on a daily basis. We look like we have been thrown in a briar patch and barely got out. After we survive her attacks we hug her and try to teach her love. The kitten squirms, growls, hisses and swats at us with claws extended until she gets them inserted deep enough to cause us to screech in pain and release her. Usually we toss her away, just to equally shock her. Do we stop loving her? No, we think she is cute. (vicious, but cute)

I told my daughter I loved her the same way when she was a child. When she was bad, that’s when I held her the closest to me. She would scream at the top of her lungs, kicking and screaming, grabbing hold of anything she thought would anchor her to the inside of the grocery store, while I was trying franticly to escape the eyes of fellow shoppers, while I dealt with my child’s temper tantrum. I couldn’t just walk away. I held her. I would hold her as tight as I could until she settled down. I always told her I loved her as much as she hated to hear it and she didn’t believe it because I had told her she couldn’t have candy in the store. I had a strong willed child. Did I stop loving her? No, I didn’t.

Love isn’t always easy. Love does have conditions. We always want to measure love. Even God gave us a measure of love:

John 3:16

New International Version (NIV)

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

As Christians we are to-

Deuteronomy 10:12

[ Fear the LORD ] And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

Matthew 22:37-38

New International Version (NIV)

37 Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

God does first love us unconditionally. As I read this Crazy Love chapter, I realized I don’t know that much about love or how to love God. I have read a lot of work by Thomas Merton, who was a twentieth-century Catholic monk, writer, and scholar of comparative religion. Through his writing I understood how deeply someone could love God with their whole being.

I realize that when I love God, I look a lot like goo, instead of good.

I want to be good in God’s eyes. Thank You, God for still working in me.