Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord, “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.” (Jeremiah 2:2)
In the summer of 2012, I realized that my love for God was
not as whole-hearted as it used to be, so I asked Him to forgive me and restore
that former passion. Little did I realize the spiritual war that would follow
and the junk that He would expose in my heart.
Today’s devotional reading takes me back to that, and reminds
me of this ongoing discipline of loving God with all my heart, mind, soul, and
strength. And it is a discipline. I heard part of a sermon this week in which the
radio preacher was talking about love being hard work. He didn’t think so on
his honeymoon, but laughed at the change five years later.
Loving God should be easy. He has saved me and blessed me.
Returning that love should be automatic, but my old sin nature is so prone to
forget that He loves me. I am too easily duped by the liar into thinking that God’s
love isn’t real.
Besides, God and I don’t speak the same love language, at
least not all the time. I tend to want what I want, forgetting what belongs to God.
Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. (Revelation 4:11)
Loving Him is about giving Him what belongs to Him: worship,
praise, thankfulness, obedience, and showing love to His people. Instead, I get
whimpering because those things are dwindling or missing in my life. How
selfish! Chambers says, “There is no joy in the soul that has forgotten what
God prizes.”
He adds that it is a great thing to remember that Jesus actually
asked for a drink! He is so kind to give me all that I need. Couldn’t I be more
thoughtful about His desires? How much kindness have I shown Him this past
week?
Right now I feel about as needy emotionally and
spiritually as I’ve ever felt, yet these thoughts turn my heart away from me and
toward Him. At the same time, I know His grace; when I give back to Jesus the
love and kindness He deserves, that almost always turns out to be the answer to
my own emptiness.
Bob is improved today. They put his oxygen intake level
up to 4 so he is thinking clearly again, even though he is still repeating
himself (not normal for him at all). He is still short of breath, but on two types
of puffer thingies that are making him breathe deeply . . . and cough. His lungs still “look terrible” but
we are hoping they begin to clear soon.
He is one of those guys who thinks if he does the right thing, feeling
better will follow, so he had me go buy him an electric shaver so he could
remove his five-day stubble. That made him ‘look less grubby’ but he says the ‘feeling
better’ part is still to come.
We are very grateful for all the email and all the
prayers. Thank you for your kind support and encouragement. I may not answer
the calls, but we are blessed by your care.
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