Week 1 LOVING GOD

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."

— Luke 10:25-28

Jesus was asked many questions. They were posed by many different people with varied motives. But there may be no question that has shaped the way Christians understand love and attempt to live it out than the one we just read that appears in all three Synoptic Gospels — the question that sparked the teaching on the Greatest Commandment. Pull out your Bible and read the three different accounts (Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-28) and notice the similarities and subtle differences. There are two different questions asked. Jesus answers directly the question in two accounts. The motive of the asker was clearly to test Jesus in Matthew and Luke, but his intent in Mark is less evident.

In Luke, the lawyer doesn't ask what the Greatest (or First) Commandment actually is. He asks the personal, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" It is a different starting point. Jesus masterfully answers his question by asking one of his own. He says, "What is written in the law?" The man gives the same answer that Jesus did in the other Gospels. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." Jesus replies, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."

Next week we will explore the lawyer's follow-up question and Jesus' answer. But this week we ask: just how are we to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, strength, and mind? It seems like an unachievable state of being. I mean, how in this world are we supposed to love God with that kind of fervor in everyday living? What does that even look like? It sounds like a pipe dream to most of us. Is it found in becoming so holy that we transcend to some altered, angelic state where nothing disturbs us? I doubt it. I have met some very holy people who love God, but even they couldn't sustain that kind of intention. If we are forced to conjure up a picture of someone who has done this, we might name someone like Mother Teresa. But we struggle to imagine how our own lives could reflect that kind of devotion, dedication, and focus. It's a job in itself. Yet, we long to worship and love the Divine. It's hardwired into us. This is conceivably because we inherently know what Augustine asserted, "God cares for each of us as though each were the only one." Have you experienced that? If you have tasted even a bit of that truth, you will never be the same. Experiencing the magnitude of God's care and love invites response and stokes a desire to be in relationship. And often as we begin to pursue that relationship, but slowly, things get in the way. While we ought to be loving the Lover with everything we have, we often fall short. We get forgetful, distracted, and self-reliant. And God never seems to force God-self upon us.

Life Seasons

The journey of following Jesus Christ includes wandering and finding, ups and downs. There are the ebbs and flows to everyday living; we all go through seasons when we feel more connected and less connected to God. "In sync" seasons are akin to serenely floating on the water, allowing the currents to gently move us down the river of life. These seasons can also be fast-paced and in constant flow, while we enjoy the exhilarating ride and easy navigation. Taking in the beauty and blessing around us, we are grateful to God for all that is.

These "in sync" seasons are balanced with periods of doubt, wandering, struggle, dryness, and/or disengagement. Then there are those seasons when we are navigating rapids, being tossed and thrown about, trying to avoid the rocks, and doing everything we can not to capsize. And sometimes we tip over and are swimming mightily to get to safety. Strong forces and indirect currents conspire to draw us away from love and are woven into the fabric of our culture and lives — no matter the season. They affect us sometimes suddenly — sometimes slowly — but they can certainly lead us from creating the space needed to deliberately cultivate our intentional love for God.

When we are drawn away, we can convince ourselves that we don't have time, or we less deliberately just fall out of the rhythm of prioritizing God. We either don't think much about making time or we are just plain unwilling to carve out the time. We question the costs versus benefits and are too unsure of the outcomes to truly invest. Doubts creep in. We wonder if our efforts in the spiritual life actually matter. Are they leading to lives that are more beautiful and purposeful? When church participation and disciplines fall into being rote and obligatory, our connection to God and the church erodes. Combine that with a world that feels out of control, political polarization, discord in the church, and struggles in our own families and our attention to our love for God wanes.

This can happen at any time — whether life is serene, choppy, or has high-level rapids, but the good news is that in every season there is also opportunity to rely on and deepen our love for God by continuing to engage in disciplines that keep us connected to God and the church.

Some of us have seasons in which it is more challenging to focus on our relationship with God. See if you can identify the season you currently are experiencing in the descriptions below.

Seasons of Plenty

Seasons of plenty and successful periods are wonderful. They offer comforts and opportunities. However, for some people, this season pulls them away from focusing on loving God. A pitfall of abundance is that it can deceive us into believing that we are responsible for it, which makes us operate like we have little need for God. Deuteronomy 8 says, "Don't think to yourself, My own strength and abilities have produced all this prosperity for me. Remember the LORD your God! He's the one who gives you the strength to be prosperous" (vv. 17-18 CEB). Success can gradually, unfortunately, move our hearts away from God. Often it takes unanticipated circumstances we can't control to jolt us back.

Embarking on homeownership was an exciting journey for my wife, Caroline, and me. Our lives were going through many positive changes. In addition to buying a house, we were newly married, had both recently started new jobs, and had just brought home a second dog. We were connecting with a new church and taking steps to be involved. In summary, we were busy with the blessings of life. And as a result, my spiritual practices took a back seat. To say the house we purchased needed work was an...