Last week I bought fireworks for my grandsons while their mother was delivering our third grandson, Elijah! When we got out of the car, the oldest, TJ, put his arms around me and said, “I love you papa.” I can’t tell you what that did to me! I just overflowed with love for that little boy! He had circled the fireworks he wanted on the flyer he had. They were all less than $2.50 each. I was rather surprised at how low his expectations were! But, of course, my resources were greater than that and I couldn’t help myself! I bought some of the bigger ones. His love gave me great joy! I wanted to give him some great joy in return.
Psalm 94 includes this same idea but it comes from the God who spoke the universe into existence. Speaking for God, the Psalmist writes about how God responds to those who love Him: “Because he is lovingly devoted to Me, I will deliver him; I will exalt him because he knows My name. When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and give him honor. I will satisfy him with a long life and show him My salvation.”
Someone once said, “Love is a peculiar thing. In order to get it, you have to give it. And when you get it … you have to give it back to keep it.” This is not true with God. He gives His love to us “While we were still sinners.” He sent Jesus, the greatest gift in the world, the most precious of all (This is my beloved son, in whom I am most pleased) to express the depth of His love for us. Unfortunately, we don’t love God in and of ourselves, we only love God because He loved us first. Although we don’t have to give God love to receive His Love, once we receive His Love in the person of His son, we can only enjoy it, when we give it back.
What someone else has said has proven true to me, “As you look back upon your life, you will find that the moments when you have really lived … are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.”
Chuck
“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening, accompanied by the ten-stringed harp and the melody of the lyre.” (Psalm 92:1-3)