The light (brightness) of the eyes rejoices the heart . . . Proverbs 15:30
You know how it is, when you’re in love or you have a close friend that you love, your eyes light up because of the joy in your heart when you see them and when they see the light in your eyes it brings joy to their heart as well. I know it does to mine. And God is like that too. He created us with the same desires He has. He wants our hearts to rejoice in His presence. And He wants us to have such an eager longing to be with Him that it shines in our eyes.
Because of this desire, "Jesus said . . . You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." (Matt 22:37)
This, according to Jesus, is the greatest commandment ever given. That means it must be very important to God and to us if we want to please Him. So, let's talk about it.
Have you ever wondered how God could command us to love Him?
Isn't love an emotional response we have only limited control over?
Aren’t we simply attracted by looks, intelligence, sense of humor or pheromones? Isn't love perhaps serendipitous, just a happy accident?
Doesn’t love just sort of happen naturally?
Think about it. Would God command us to do something we aren’t able to do?
Doesn’t God know how we are– after all He made us?
Yes, He did make us! And, why did He do that? He made us because He loved us. It should; therefore, be a natural response for us to love Him because He first loved us!
Not only did He create us out of His love but He designed us with the ability to return that love ‘if we choose to’. Yes, love is a choice.
The three persons of the Godhead existed from eternity in a loving relationship. Can you even imagine what it was like before God created the universe? It’s hard for us to conceive of a time before we were around, isn’t it? What did God do before we came along? I can tell you one thing, He had a lot fewer headaches and heartaches!
God was complete in Himself. He had no needs but He was so full of love He chose to share it. And, because of this choice, He spoke the universe into existence. Everything that’s out there is out there for us. He made it seemingly endless so we wouldn’t feel like we were in a box and be claustrophobic. He made the earth large enough to provide lots of opportunity for adventure. And, when He had everything prepared that would be necessary to provide for the subjects of His love, He created Adam and Eve. And then to accommodate our esthetic needs, He planted a beautiful garden to be our home.
Adam was handmade by Jesus. He appeared in a pre-incarnate physical body, got down on His hands and knees, scooped up some clay, and with much greater skill than the greatest master sculptor who would ever live, He formed the man. Then when the time was right, He took flesh and bone material from Adam’s side and He built the woman. I’m not sure what built means here but I think it must mean that women are the best of His creation!
I want to emphasize that this was not an impersonal process like when He spoke the angels into existence. No, Jesus got totally involved. In fact, when He breathed life into Adam and he became conscious, Jesus was right there face to face with him. Adam came into being in perfect relationship with his Creator. (Maybe they even had a birthday party!) He immediately started getting to know God and God knew him.
The same thing was true for Eve. Jesus was in her line of sight when she opened her eyes for the very first time. She never had a moment of loneliness or confusion about who she was or where she was. Jesus was with her and He took her to Adam and blessed their union. They were both brought into existence by God because He wanted them to be with Him. And thus, mankind was ‘Creator designed’ for a loving relationship with his God.
We all know the story of what happened in that beautiful garden called Eden. We know that Satan deceived Eve and we know that Adam willfully chose to disobey the direct command of God. We know they both ate of the forbidden fruit, thus breaking the perfect fellowship they had with Jesus. But, do we understand the impact their choices had on the heart of God? I’m not at all sure we’ve given that enough thought.
The scriptures tell us that, following their disobedience, Jesus came walking through the garden looking for them just as He had every day. Don’t you think He knew they had sinned? Of course, He did. But this shows us that God remains faithful even when we are faithless. Even though He knew what they had done He still came. He loved them and wanted to be with them but they were hiding.
When Jesus reached their usual meeting place and found Himself alone, He called out to Adam and said, "Where are you?" Those words may have flowed from His lips, but I believe there was a much deeper question burning in His heart at that moment. Most of us are reluctant to openly acknowledge feelings of rejection. I believe in His faithful heart of hearts He was thinking, "Why have you forsaken Me?"
It was a question He knew He would be forced to ask of His Father someday from an old rugged cross because of their transgression. Nevertheless, out of His great love and faithfulness, He had come to be with them, but they turned away in fear and had closed their hearts to Him.
Closed hearts have been the problem ever since. God has done everything possible to reach us. He has tugged at our hearts through the beauty of nature. He has whispered our names through the voices of loving friends. He has written us love letters through His prophets. He has demonstrated His love by sending His Son to die for us. He has spoken to us and comforted us by His Holy Spirit. He has been merciful and kind and gracious to us all the days of our lives, drawing us to Himself with cords of everlasting love. But, we have a free will and He will never force us to engage in an intimate, loving, heart to heart, relationship with Him. Still, that is what He truly wants, so He has given us His greatest commandment to continually remind us.
Jesus was very aware of the difficulty people have in obeying this commandment. Not because it’s too difficult, but because of closed hearts. In fact, He quoted Isaiah and said, 'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' " Matt 15:8-9
Draw near could have been translated approach. It’s the word often used to express a desire for intimate (sexual) relations. Jesus is saying these people try to lead me to believe that they want to be truly intimate with me, but it’s just talk. They have closed their hearts to Me. They always keep Me at a distance because they prefer to live by their manmade rules. What a heartbreaking situation this is for God. It’s inexpressibly painful to care deeply for someone, and to desire a heart to heart relationship with them, knowing they don’t feel the same way about you. Especially when you’ve done everything you can to show them your love. I’m sure many of us can relate to this because we have experienced that kind of rejection and pain.
Well, we’re not alone. That’s where God often finds Himself. He’s a Person with an infinite heart. He loves us and cares for us; therefore, He suffers from feelings of rejection when our hearts are far from Him. Why does He suffer? Because He knows that rules will never lead to intimacy. Intimacy means, ‘In to me you see’. That doesn’t happen by accident or overnight. It takes commitment and time. Both parties have to want it and trust each other enough to build toward it. God has been doing His part because He wants intimacy with you. Do you want intimacy with Him?
Jesus wants you, like Moses, to know His ways, His very nature, not just what He does. The problem is, most people live from their brains instead of their hearts. They aren’t really interested in intimacy. The brain is very territorial. Its main concern is self-protection. It wants to be on guard against anything or anyone who at some point in time might be a threat; a source of problems or pain. So, people who live from their brains keep others at a safe distance. They don’t even want to be intimate with their loved ones, much less with God. So, they stay behind their self-made protective walls trying to avoid pain, and hoping to make it through another day unscathed. If they think of God at all, they see Him as impersonal. They don’t understand His loving nature or even consider His heart of hearts.
So, Jesus reveals God’s heart. He shows us that it grieves God when we talk like we have or want to have a personal relationship with Him, but it’s just talk. He feels rejected when we perform our religious duties, but withhold our affections from Him. Our affection is what He really wants. But, when religious people don’t know God and don’t really want to, they always turn to rules. Following rules is a sure sign of a lack of intimacy with God.
We have a perfect example of this in scripture. There was a rich young ruler who came to Jesus and asked, "What must I ‘do’ to gain eternal life?" He didn’t ask how to get closer to God. He just wanted something he could ‘do’ part-time to insure that his eternal destiny would be in heaven. Under questioning by Jesus, he professed to have followed all the most important rules since childhood. So, as always, Jesus went straight to the heart of the matter.
Jesus challenged the young man with his ultimate ‘do’! He told him, "Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor and come and follow Me. That’s what you can ‘do’ to gain eternal life."
It wouldn’t have purchased eternal life for him, nothing but the blood of Jesus can do that, but it would have shown that he really loved God. Money was his true love so he wouldn’t ‘do’ it. Instead, he went away sorrowful and left Jesus sorrowful too because He really loved him.
Let’s look at the heart of the matter. Why is God so concerned about an intimate relationship with us? I think the book called The Five Love Languages will help us understand. It says people receive love in at least 5 different ways. It might be through gifts, acts of service, quality time, words of affirmation or physical touch. For example, if a loved one needs physical touch but you give gifts, it won’t make him feel loved. And acts of service just won’t touch someone who needs quality time. So, if someone doesn’t know specifically what makes you feel loved, whatever they are doing for you probably won’t be an effective way to show you they love you. Well, God’s like that too. He has certain things that make Him feel loved. He wants us to spend time getting to know Him in His Word and through His Spirit so that we know how to show Him we love Him. And, once we know how, He wants us to do it, out of love.
Speaking of love, to the church of Ephesus in Revelations, Jesus said: "I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place – unless you repent." Rev 2:2-6
When you first look at this passage you may wonder what the real problem was. I mean, these people were doing a lot of things right! So, why does He tell them to change their ways? What could have been so different about those first works that made God demand that they return to them? Take another look at the passage and notice how God described what they were doing. He said, "I know ‘your works, your labor, your patience.’ I see what ‘you’ have done." It was as if they were doing all they were doing on their own. The obvious difference between their first works and their current works is that the first works were done out of a heart of love for God. They were performed with Him; not just for Him. They were done with a desire to please Him. They were done with a joy that flowed from an intimate love relationship with God. He’s not satisfied with anything less. And we shouldn’t be either. Works righteousness is never effective, satisfying or sustainable!
So, what kind of relationship is God looking for? Let’s look at David. God called him "a man after My own heart, who will do all My will." (Acts 13:22 from 1 Sam 13:14) He wanted an intimacy with God that few people ever seek after and He was willing to obey God’s commandments to achieve it. Listen to his intimate conversation with God.
"O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, (Don’t you love it when someone’s looking for you in the sanctuary? God does too!) to see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied . . . and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me . . . " (Excerpts Psalm 63: 1-8)
Can you feel David’s passion for God? Can you sense his devotion? Can you see why God said David was a man ‘after My own heart’? It was because he pursued God! I want to quote a couple of passages from The Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge to clarify the wonder of this relationship God longs for with us. "We come into the world wanting to be special to someone and from the start we are disappointed . . . Can you recall a time when a significant someone in your life sat you down with the sole purpose of wanting to know your heart more deeply, fully expecting to enjoy what he found there? More people have climbed Mt. Everest than have experienced real pursuit . . . "
That last statement amazed me. I’m sure you know not many people have climbed Mt. Everest! I don’t know how that strikes you on a personal level, but I can relate to it very deeply. I want to be pursued and I pursue others. I want to get to know my friends at an intimate level and I want them to know me. I’m not satisfied with surface relationships. I realize my needs in this area and I know I’m not alone. I take after my Father in heaven. That’s exactly what He wants too. He wants us to pursue Him! He wants us to spend time with Him; just because we want to get to know Him better. This is what David did and God loved it.
God loved David's passion; and He loved David with a passion! And, God knew David intimately. Because of this, He understood and continued to love David even through his failures. God knew that because David lived from his heart he was in danger if he ever let his godly passion grow cold. So, when David got lax in his relationship with God, it was no surprise to God that he fell into the trap of looking for a new lover to satisfy his heart’s needs. Everyone turns to something to meet the needs of their heart. Not everyone will turn to human lovers, but they will turn to something to meet their heart’s needs, if they don’t stay close to God. It may be sports, romance novels, soap operas, hobbies, or even other lovers.
According to G. K. Chesterton, "Every man who goes to a brothel is looking for God!"
That’s a shocking statement, and I’m not sure that’s true of every man, but I do believe David’s affair with Bathsheba was an attempt to replace the love life He had lost with God. It doesn’t excuse his behavior and he had to repent to get back into a right relationship with God but; by God’s grace, he did, and God restored him. He returned to being a man after God’s own heart.
In conclusion, God is a God of heart relationships and if we want to be in a satisfying relationship with Him, He demands that we love Him with our whole heart. We sing about and long for "More love . . . more power . . . more of you in my life". . . but the only way we’ll get more love and more power is to love God more. He wants us to be so enthralled with Him that our eyes are bright when we think of Him, talk about Him, and worship Him. He wants our whole heart. It’s the only thing He really wants from us. All of the busyness, the works, and the use of our spiritual gifts and natural abilities mean nothing to God apart from an intimate relationship with Him.
But, this is not a one step process. If you want to please God, you must pursue Him for a lifetime. And it’s your choice.
You know how it is, when you’re in love or you have a close friend that you love, your eyes light up because of the joy in your heart when you see them and when they see the light in your eyes it brings joy to their heart as well. I know it does to mine. And God is like that too. He created us with the same desires He has. He wants our hearts to rejoice in His presence. And He wants us to have such an eager longing to be with Him that it shines in our eyes.
Because of this desire, "Jesus said . . . You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." (Matt 22:37)
This, according to Jesus, is the greatest commandment ever given. That means it must be very important to God and to us if we want to please Him. So, let's talk about it.
Have you ever wondered how God could command us to love Him?
Isn't love an emotional response we have only limited control over?
Aren’t we simply attracted by looks, intelligence, sense of humor or pheromones? Isn't love perhaps serendipitous, just a happy accident?
Doesn’t love just sort of happen naturally?
Think about it. Would God command us to do something we aren’t able to do?
Doesn’t God know how we are– after all He made us?
Yes, He did make us! And, why did He do that? He made us because He loved us. It should; therefore, be a natural response for us to love Him because He first loved us!
Not only did He create us out of His love but He designed us with the ability to return that love ‘if we choose to’. Yes, love is a choice.
The three persons of the Godhead existed from eternity in a loving relationship. Can you even imagine what it was like before God created the universe? It’s hard for us to conceive of a time before we were around, isn’t it? What did God do before we came along? I can tell you one thing, He had a lot fewer headaches and heartaches!
God was complete in Himself. He had no needs but He was so full of love He chose to share it. And, because of this choice, He spoke the universe into existence. Everything that’s out there is out there for us. He made it seemingly endless so we wouldn’t feel like we were in a box and be claustrophobic. He made the earth large enough to provide lots of opportunity for adventure. And, when He had everything prepared that would be necessary to provide for the subjects of His love, He created Adam and Eve. And then to accommodate our esthetic needs, He planted a beautiful garden to be our home.
Adam was handmade by Jesus. He appeared in a pre-incarnate physical body, got down on His hands and knees, scooped up some clay, and with much greater skill than the greatest master sculptor who would ever live, He formed the man. Then when the time was right, He took flesh and bone material from Adam’s side and He built the woman. I’m not sure what built means here but I think it must mean that women are the best of His creation!
I want to emphasize that this was not an impersonal process like when He spoke the angels into existence. No, Jesus got totally involved. In fact, when He breathed life into Adam and he became conscious, Jesus was right there face to face with him. Adam came into being in perfect relationship with his Creator. (Maybe they even had a birthday party!) He immediately started getting to know God and God knew him.
The same thing was true for Eve. Jesus was in her line of sight when she opened her eyes for the very first time. She never had a moment of loneliness or confusion about who she was or where she was. Jesus was with her and He took her to Adam and blessed their union. They were both brought into existence by God because He wanted them to be with Him. And thus, mankind was ‘Creator designed’ for a loving relationship with his God.
We all know the story of what happened in that beautiful garden called Eden. We know that Satan deceived Eve and we know that Adam willfully chose to disobey the direct command of God. We know they both ate of the forbidden fruit, thus breaking the perfect fellowship they had with Jesus. But, do we understand the impact their choices had on the heart of God? I’m not at all sure we’ve given that enough thought.
The scriptures tell us that, following their disobedience, Jesus came walking through the garden looking for them just as He had every day. Don’t you think He knew they had sinned? Of course, He did. But this shows us that God remains faithful even when we are faithless. Even though He knew what they had done He still came. He loved them and wanted to be with them but they were hiding.
When Jesus reached their usual meeting place and found Himself alone, He called out to Adam and said, "Where are you?" Those words may have flowed from His lips, but I believe there was a much deeper question burning in His heart at that moment. Most of us are reluctant to openly acknowledge feelings of rejection. I believe in His faithful heart of hearts He was thinking, "Why have you forsaken Me?"
It was a question He knew He would be forced to ask of His Father someday from an old rugged cross because of their transgression. Nevertheless, out of His great love and faithfulness, He had come to be with them, but they turned away in fear and had closed their hearts to Him.
Closed hearts have been the problem ever since. God has done everything possible to reach us. He has tugged at our hearts through the beauty of nature. He has whispered our names through the voices of loving friends. He has written us love letters through His prophets. He has demonstrated His love by sending His Son to die for us. He has spoken to us and comforted us by His Holy Spirit. He has been merciful and kind and gracious to us all the days of our lives, drawing us to Himself with cords of everlasting love. But, we have a free will and He will never force us to engage in an intimate, loving, heart to heart, relationship with Him. Still, that is what He truly wants, so He has given us His greatest commandment to continually remind us.
Jesus was very aware of the difficulty people have in obeying this commandment. Not because it’s too difficult, but because of closed hearts. In fact, He quoted Isaiah and said, 'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' " Matt 15:8-9
Draw near could have been translated approach. It’s the word often used to express a desire for intimate (sexual) relations. Jesus is saying these people try to lead me to believe that they want to be truly intimate with me, but it’s just talk. They have closed their hearts to Me. They always keep Me at a distance because they prefer to live by their manmade rules. What a heartbreaking situation this is for God. It’s inexpressibly painful to care deeply for someone, and to desire a heart to heart relationship with them, knowing they don’t feel the same way about you. Especially when you’ve done everything you can to show them your love. I’m sure many of us can relate to this because we have experienced that kind of rejection and pain.
Well, we’re not alone. That’s where God often finds Himself. He’s a Person with an infinite heart. He loves us and cares for us; therefore, He suffers from feelings of rejection when our hearts are far from Him. Why does He suffer? Because He knows that rules will never lead to intimacy. Intimacy means, ‘In to me you see’. That doesn’t happen by accident or overnight. It takes commitment and time. Both parties have to want it and trust each other enough to build toward it. God has been doing His part because He wants intimacy with you. Do you want intimacy with Him?
Jesus wants you, like Moses, to know His ways, His very nature, not just what He does. The problem is, most people live from their brains instead of their hearts. They aren’t really interested in intimacy. The brain is very territorial. Its main concern is self-protection. It wants to be on guard against anything or anyone who at some point in time might be a threat; a source of problems or pain. So, people who live from their brains keep others at a safe distance. They don’t even want to be intimate with their loved ones, much less with God. So, they stay behind their self-made protective walls trying to avoid pain, and hoping to make it through another day unscathed. If they think of God at all, they see Him as impersonal. They don’t understand His loving nature or even consider His heart of hearts.
So, Jesus reveals God’s heart. He shows us that it grieves God when we talk like we have or want to have a personal relationship with Him, but it’s just talk. He feels rejected when we perform our religious duties, but withhold our affections from Him. Our affection is what He really wants. But, when religious people don’t know God and don’t really want to, they always turn to rules. Following rules is a sure sign of a lack of intimacy with God.
We have a perfect example of this in scripture. There was a rich young ruler who came to Jesus and asked, "What must I ‘do’ to gain eternal life?" He didn’t ask how to get closer to God. He just wanted something he could ‘do’ part-time to insure that his eternal destiny would be in heaven. Under questioning by Jesus, he professed to have followed all the most important rules since childhood. So, as always, Jesus went straight to the heart of the matter.
Jesus challenged the young man with his ultimate ‘do’! He told him, "Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor and come and follow Me. That’s what you can ‘do’ to gain eternal life."
It wouldn’t have purchased eternal life for him, nothing but the blood of Jesus can do that, but it would have shown that he really loved God. Money was his true love so he wouldn’t ‘do’ it. Instead, he went away sorrowful and left Jesus sorrowful too because He really loved him.
Let’s look at the heart of the matter. Why is God so concerned about an intimate relationship with us? I think the book called The Five Love Languages will help us understand. It says people receive love in at least 5 different ways. It might be through gifts, acts of service, quality time, words of affirmation or physical touch. For example, if a loved one needs physical touch but you give gifts, it won’t make him feel loved. And acts of service just won’t touch someone who needs quality time. So, if someone doesn’t know specifically what makes you feel loved, whatever they are doing for you probably won’t be an effective way to show you they love you. Well, God’s like that too. He has certain things that make Him feel loved. He wants us to spend time getting to know Him in His Word and through His Spirit so that we know how to show Him we love Him. And, once we know how, He wants us to do it, out of love.
Speaking of love, to the church of Ephesus in Revelations, Jesus said: "I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place – unless you repent." Rev 2:2-6
When you first look at this passage you may wonder what the real problem was. I mean, these people were doing a lot of things right! So, why does He tell them to change their ways? What could have been so different about those first works that made God demand that they return to them? Take another look at the passage and notice how God described what they were doing. He said, "I know ‘your works, your labor, your patience.’ I see what ‘you’ have done." It was as if they were doing all they were doing on their own. The obvious difference between their first works and their current works is that the first works were done out of a heart of love for God. They were performed with Him; not just for Him. They were done with a desire to please Him. They were done with a joy that flowed from an intimate love relationship with God. He’s not satisfied with anything less. And we shouldn’t be either. Works righteousness is never effective, satisfying or sustainable!
So, what kind of relationship is God looking for? Let’s look at David. God called him "a man after My own heart, who will do all My will." (Acts 13:22 from 1 Sam 13:14) He wanted an intimacy with God that few people ever seek after and He was willing to obey God’s commandments to achieve it. Listen to his intimate conversation with God.
"O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, (Don’t you love it when someone’s looking for you in the sanctuary? God does too!) to see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied . . . and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me . . . " (Excerpts Psalm 63: 1-8)
Can you feel David’s passion for God? Can you sense his devotion? Can you see why God said David was a man ‘after My own heart’? It was because he pursued God! I want to quote a couple of passages from The Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge to clarify the wonder of this relationship God longs for with us. "We come into the world wanting to be special to someone and from the start we are disappointed . . . Can you recall a time when a significant someone in your life sat you down with the sole purpose of wanting to know your heart more deeply, fully expecting to enjoy what he found there? More people have climbed Mt. Everest than have experienced real pursuit . . . "
That last statement amazed me. I’m sure you know not many people have climbed Mt. Everest! I don’t know how that strikes you on a personal level, but I can relate to it very deeply. I want to be pursued and I pursue others. I want to get to know my friends at an intimate level and I want them to know me. I’m not satisfied with surface relationships. I realize my needs in this area and I know I’m not alone. I take after my Father in heaven. That’s exactly what He wants too. He wants us to pursue Him! He wants us to spend time with Him; just because we want to get to know Him better. This is what David did and God loved it.
God loved David's passion; and He loved David with a passion! And, God knew David intimately. Because of this, He understood and continued to love David even through his failures. God knew that because David lived from his heart he was in danger if he ever let his godly passion grow cold. So, when David got lax in his relationship with God, it was no surprise to God that he fell into the trap of looking for a new lover to satisfy his heart’s needs. Everyone turns to something to meet the needs of their heart. Not everyone will turn to human lovers, but they will turn to something to meet their heart’s needs, if they don’t stay close to God. It may be sports, romance novels, soap operas, hobbies, or even other lovers.
According to G. K. Chesterton, "Every man who goes to a brothel is looking for God!"
That’s a shocking statement, and I’m not sure that’s true of every man, but I do believe David’s affair with Bathsheba was an attempt to replace the love life He had lost with God. It doesn’t excuse his behavior and he had to repent to get back into a right relationship with God but; by God’s grace, he did, and God restored him. He returned to being a man after God’s own heart.
In conclusion, God is a God of heart relationships and if we want to be in a satisfying relationship with Him, He demands that we love Him with our whole heart. We sing about and long for "More love . . . more power . . . more of you in my life". . . but the only way we’ll get more love and more power is to love God more. He wants us to be so enthralled with Him that our eyes are bright when we think of Him, talk about Him, and worship Him. He wants our whole heart. It’s the only thing He really wants from us. All of the busyness, the works, and the use of our spiritual gifts and natural abilities mean nothing to God apart from an intimate relationship with Him.
But, this is not a one step process. If you want to please God, you must pursue Him for a lifetime. And it’s your choice.
Bright Eyes
My Lord, My God, teach me please,
To live my life attached only to thee.
By this, I ask not You remove lesser loves,
But rather, enthrall my heart from above.
Be my Father, my Friend and my Lover,
So the wounds in my heart may fully recover.
Meet my soul’s most passionate needs
For companionship and true intimacy.
O, Holy God, my deepest heart's desire,
Fill me with love's all consuming fire.
Know me as I’ve never yet been known.
So I’ll have bright eyes for You alone.
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