UNTIL recently, I’d never come to appreciate the Old Testament. I pretty much as­sumed that it was just obsolete and there wasn’t much to glean from it.  I think the majority of Christians feel the same way.

The problem is that the whole of the Old Testament is typically taught as a collection of fabulous stories, a bunch of character studies, an archaic system of practices that Jesus came to take the place of, or a bunch of quips of wisdom that we can readily apply to our life. It is mostly taught in the realm of the concrete, this-is-the-way-it­was or this-is-how-it-happened. The Old Testament is portrayed to be mostly irrele­vant for the contemporary Christian.

How does the Old Testament actually read though? It is the story of a starry-eyed Lover who’s unwilling to give up on a people He created in His image. Unabashedly and relentlessly, He pursues a people who are at best faithless and unfaithful.

One only has to glance at a single prophecy to find the very words of a God who even in the wake of heartbreak cannot seem to let go, give up, or give in.

Malachi 3:7&17

They will be My people,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “On the day when I act in judgment, they will be My own special treasure. I will spare them as a fa­ther spares an obedient child.

Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned My decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to Me, and I will return to you”

The entire book is replete with a God who displays a full range of emotions, a God discontent with being distant and unknown.

These bold, raw, in-your-face characteristics stare us in the face and bring us into a deeper knowledge of Him. But, for the most part, we avoid this emotionally charged God. We fear what we cannot understand, but we are more fearful about those things that we can’t explain: A jealous God, an angry God, etc. We neuter, dumb-down, oversimplify this wonderful God that desires to be known, and we stick to the safe, common places when we refer to Him.

Listen, He’s nuts about you. He’s borderline obsessive, and He’s not ashamed to tell us that.

The knowledge of God – that tangible knowledge of a Person – is waiting to be pur­sued. This humble God has shown no restraint in what He would make known about Himself to His people. Most humans are content with only revealing about ourselves what we know won’t turn people off. We bring people into a safe proximity where we know we won’t be hurt, rejected, and broken. Only those we trust most get into the deepest places.

God chooses to reveal Himself to any who would sincerely seek to know Him. God just seems to me to be this glutton for punishment. Why would God allow flawed, thank­less, adulterous people through the ages to repeatedly come close and cause so much personal pain and heartache?

Because He loves us.  That’s why.

Have you ever thought about the fact that no person has ever experienced unrequited love like God has?  He loves in a way that could never possibly be returned.  Count­less times His creation has walked away from Him.  They’ve been unfaithful. They’ve chased other things. They’ve opposed Him. They’ve cursed Him. They’ve lived lives independently of Him, pursued things other than Him, blatantly declaring that He is not desirable.  These same people don’t want their lives infringed upon, but they will quickly shake their fist in His face as soon as things go south in their lives.

And yet, God pursues after us.  As a matter of fact, in the moments we were so vehe­mently opposed to Him, He was constructing a plan.  He could see that we could never be faithful. He knew we couldn’t possibly fulfill the commitment that was re­quired to be in relationship with Him.  So He lowers the bar as much as He possibly could. He makes stepping into a relationship with Him cheap.  He makes it free.  Of course, it would cost Him everything, but just the chance that He could have us back was worth the risk.

I don’t get love like that. God deserves so much better.  He has no reason to love us, but He does.

Just a question: what do you think God wants in return?  Anytime we get into a rela­tionship with someone there are strings, right?  I mean, nothing is really free, is it?  Supposedly, God brought us in on a free gift, but the free gift has some kind of re­quirement doesn’t it?  Like you’ll purchase 10 regularly priced CDs within the next two years or something.

What does God want? Does He want you to serve more?  Give more?  Go to church?  Manage your sin better?  Quit cheating on your taxes?  Make a good boy or girl out of you?  Does He want to impose restrictions on you?  Does He want you feeling guilty now because of everything you’ve done wrong in the past?  Does He just want you to grovel because you let Him down?

Ezekiel 11:19

I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take

the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh:

God really only wants one thing. It’s all He’s ever wanted. He wants your heart. More simply put, God wants love that originates there.

Depending on what version of the Bible you use, you can find anywhere between 750 to 900 instances of the word “heart.”

The Jewish understanding of the heart was that the heart was the “seat of the emo­tions.”  More specifically, in Scripture the heart was seen as the seat of physical life; the seat of moral nature and spiritual life; the seat of grief and joy; the desires; the affections; the perceptions; the thoughts and understanding; the reasoning power; the imagination; conscience; intentions, purpose and the will; and faith.

Just skimming through Scripture will conjure up vivid examples of the role of the heart from Pharaoh whose heart was hardened, to David who was the man “after God’s heart;” even Israel couldn’t take their own land that was promised to them be­cause their hearts were discouraged.

You’ve probably even heard someone say “I just don’t have the heart to do that.” Or “My heart won’t let me do that.”  It’s true.

The heart is the source of resolve to go on or to quit. It trumps everything.

You can give mental ascent to things. You can know what you’re supposed to do. You can believe things with your mind. You can even willpower your way into accomplish­ing some things or even deny yourself others. But the heart – that passion – it’s fuel, unending adrenaline, it’s the fight, the bite, the IV drip into the veins of life that thrusts us into doing, being, & walking into who we were made to become.

And when God speaks of the kind of people that He wants and the love that He de­sires, He always refers to it in no uncertain terms:

Love Me with your whole heart.

Their hearts are far from Me.

Return to the Lord with your whole heart.

The Lord looks on the heart.

I will give them one heart.

You will find Me when you seek Me with your whole heart.

What’s so great about love, anyway?  What’s not great about love?

Love is an incredibly powerful force. Love will send a father into a flaming house to rescue the one he loves.  Love will incite a quiet, subdued mother into violence on the behalf of a child who is in danger.  Love will cause a man to buy what he cannot af­ford. Love will make you stay up days at a time, miss meals, endure pain, do illogical things, work 3 jobs, and sacrifice. It has a staying power.

Quite frankly, I Corinthians 13 spells out clearly that anything that is not the result of love is nothing.  It’s empty. It’s worthless.  God really doesn’t want anything that we can “do” for Him. Doing things for God or being obedient does not equate love. I can be obedient and follow the rules without ever giving my heart.

Here’s the other part of love though: if we truly love God, then out of the overflow of our love comes some really significant things.

Here’s an example:

Let’s say I was pulled over by a cop because I wasn’t wearing my seatbelt.  I roll down my window; the cop asks me for my license, registration, and proof of insurance and does the typical battery of questions: Where are you going?  Why were you not wear­ing a seatbelt?  Through shiny sunglasses in a gruff tone he explains the law regarding seatbelts, the penalty of breaking the law, and he gives me “grace” this one time, but warns me not to do it again. Then he wishes me “a nice day” and tells me, “Drive safely.”

Even though he let me off the hook, I still believe that he wanted to give me a ticket, because that’s what cops do.  And I have some friends who are cops, and they really enjoy giving people tickets.  They’ve told me so. The cop wished me a nice day and told me to drive safely.  Do I feel warm and fuzzy all over?  No, I don’t.  I still feel un­der compulsion.  But I pull away having fastened my seatbelt.

What about this scenario? I’m driving down the street with my wife and kids, and I don’t have my seatbelt on.  My wife asks me, “Why aren’t you wearing a seatbelt?”  She then goes on to tell me that she’s concerned for my well being and that I need to buckle up.  You know what I do?  I buckle up, not because I know she’s right, not be­cause she’s trying to run my life, I buckle up because I love my family, and I’d never want to do anything that could risk my future with them.

Both situations seemed to garner the same response didn’t they?  But I’d have to say that one counted and the other didn’t. One was out of legal responsibility; the other was truly out of love.  The first will have limitations; it will fail.  The second will stand the test of time.

God just wants our love.  And if what you do for Him isn’t born out of love, then He doesn’t want that either.

Do you love God? I mean really love Him?  I have to confess that I didn’t for a really long time.  I wanted to go to heaven.  I wanted God to do good things for me.  I wanted Him to be there when I had a problem or a struggle.  I wanted Him to pro­duce, give me answers, bless me, do miraculous stuff and pull me through at the drop of a hat.  But I really wasn’t interested in having Him.

Besides that, how could you possibly love God? That just seems so out there. He’s invisible. He doesn’t drink coffee, so that’s something that we don’t have in common.  He’s perfect.  I’m not.

I think it’s difficult to love someone if you don’t have a relationship with them. I’d be willing to stick my neck out there and say that if you don’t love God, you certainly don’t know Him.  And God right now is saying to you: “Come and get to know Me.”

If you’d dare take the chance, you’ll find a God who’s gentle and not demanding. He’s been so patient up to now; don’t you think?  He’s been so humble and non­threatening.  He’s never forced Himself.  He’s never been pushy.  He’s never put you on a guilt trip.

You know this is all true.  Maybe you think that you can’t love God.  Maybe you know how limited and failing your love is.  Scripture has a beautiful story of this very ex­change between God and man.

John 21:15 – 17

So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of

Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love You.”

He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”  Peter

was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”

And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”

Peter was a disciple. This whole conversation is taking place within 40 days of Peter’s meltdown.  Do you remember that?  Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Judas is on his way with the Roman soldiers and when all those guys show up Jesus is pretty much abandoned by everybody.  Peter had already told Jesus: “Jesus, I will die for you.”  But like Jesus predicted, he denied his connection with Jesus 3 times.  Verse 62 of Luke tells of how Peter went off and boo-hooed like never before.

I can imagine Peter was like: “I was supposed to be different.  I’m a failure! He told me I was going to deny Him, and I told Him convincingly that I would be there for Him and I failed.  I let Him down.  I can’t do this life!”

And so Jesus catches up with Peter and this extraordinary exchange happens be­tween Peter and Jesus that focuses on Peter’s love for Him.  So many times when I read this I thought: “Wow, that must have been difficult.  It was a personal confronta­tion.  And Jesus seems to be upping the ante on what He requires of His followers.  He’s asking Peter if he loves Him.” Honestly, I was uncomfortable with the passage because I knew if Jesus asked me I couldn’t have responded, “Yes, I love you.”

I misunderstood thinking Jesus kept asking Peter the same question because Peter didn’t really love Him.  But what I learned on closer study was the inadequacy of the English language to convey this conversation.

When Jesus first asks Peter, “Do you love me?” The word that for love that he used was the word: “Agapao.”  Agapao speaks of a love which is awakened by a sense of value in the object loved.  It’s a selfless, sacrificial love of choice.  It’s not a love based on what one can get out of it.  It is the love of perfection – literally the kind of love God had for His Son and for His creation.

So Jesus asks Peter, “Do you Agapo me?”

And Peter responds: “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Of course, the word that Peter used for love was not “Agapo.”  He responded with a different kind of love. The word Peter used was the word “Phileo.”  Phileo was a love of friendly affection.  It is a love called out of one in response to a feeling of pleasure or delight.  It is love, but not perfect love.

A second time, Jesus asks: “Peter, Do you Agapo me?” Peter responds again, “Yes, Lord; you know that I Phileo you.”

If I’m Peter, I’m kinda sweating this right now.

And now comes the the third line of questioning, but in this question, Jesus does a little switch.

Jesus asks: “Peter, do you Phileo Me.”

Peter is broken and he replied, “You know me.  You know the depth of my heart. You know I Phileo you.”

Why the switch?  I think what we’re seeing is the gentleness of God made evident by Jesus here.  Jesus was making it abundantly clear that He loved Peter, selflessly, re­lentlessly, sacrificially, as though Peter was a precious treasure.  Peter honestly couldn’t have loved Jesus that way.  He knew that was the love of perfection, so he responded as honestly as he could: “Jesus, I don’t love You like that, but I love you this much.”

And Jesus’ asking the question again seemed to restate His love for Peter despite Pe­ter’s weakness to love Him back, while stressing the fact that God truly desires to be deeply loved.

But the third time, Jesus changes the question. He asks the question in such a way that Peter becomes unhinged.  I don’t think Peter was grieved because he thought that Jesus didn’t believe him, I think he realized the kind of love he was receiving and that he just couldn’t meet it with an adequate kind of love.

And you know what Jesus was saying?  He was saying to Peter, “That’s enough for Me right now. Your love isn’t perfect, but it’ll do.  I’ll receive your love.”

I think that’s what God desires to say to you right now. When you say: “God, I can’t love you because I don’t know You yet.” Or “God I like you as a friend.”  Or “God, I love You, but I know I don’t love You enough.”  God responds with an “I’ll receive your love.  Whatever expression it is right now, as incomplete and weak as you think it is, I want it.”

When I think of God responding like that, it causes me to become undone.  It makes me love Him.  It compels me to want to know Him more.  It makes me wonder what He could possibly see in me; why my love could matter so much to Him; how a huge God like He is could be moved and thrilled by what little I give Him in return.

Do you think maybe you could respond to God right now?

If God told you, “I love you fully, completely, unconditionally, and sacrificially.  Do you love Me?”

How do you respond to that?  Respond to Him right now the best you know how.

And God says, “I still love you fully, completely, unconditionally, and sacrificially.  I’m ecstatic and thrilled to receive your love for Me.  Whatever you’ve got, I’ll take it!”

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