Intimacy with God (III) Unrequited love

One of the pictures the Bible paints of our relationship with God, is the marriage relationship. For example, the husband is to love the wife as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25, see also verses 31, 32). It is my observation however, that in human romantic relationships, the one who loves the most has the least power. It also seems to me that in that situation the temptation to manipulation and control by the one with the most power is great, and that when that temptation is not resisted, it too easily leads to a radical disrespect of the other partner. It is therefore something of a paradox in my mind, that in our relationship with God, the one who has all power and authority is the also the one who loves the most (i.e John 3:16).

And this One with all power and authority, though He commands, nevertheless gives us complete freedom to obey or not. And He will never, never, never, manipulate or control, and even when we fail, He always treats us with honour and respect (i.e. John 8:1-11)! We do need to understand that when He commands a thing, or forbids a thing, He does it for our provision and protection. As a wise and loving Father He indeed knows what is best for us. And He has neither hidden agenda nor nefarious purpose! So when He commands us to love Him with all our heart, mind soul and strength (Mark 12:30), He has our very best interests at heart. In particular, when we love Him first, and put Him first in all things, then His love is able to pour out through us in a way we could not love others without Him!

What shall we say to these things? Those of us who have experienced unrequited love (a love that is only one way), or a love that is imbalanced as mentioned above, we know both the pain and the longing for intimacy. And if we are to have deep intimacy with the Lord, and access to the fullness of His extravagant healing love, then surly we can understand that anything less that our absolute all, will simply not cut it. And this is why the commands can seem so demanding. “Unless you take up your cross daily and follow me, you cannot be my disciple” (Luke 9:23). We need to understand that when we do not give our all, we are in fact cheating ourselves.

Father, to my mind Paul says it well when he pleads “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1 NKJV). The word translated “reasonable” here, is the word from which we get our word “logical.” Indeed Lord the only logical response to all that You have done is to seek to love You with all that I am and have. I need You to help me in this Lord, for many times the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Thank You Lord that You are indeed able to keep that which I have committed to You against that day (2 Timothy 1:2) in Jesus Name Amen