God's Greatest Desire

"One of the teachers of religious law... asked, 'Of all the commandments, which is the most important?' Jesus replied, 'The most important commandment is this: "Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength." The second is equally important: "Love your neighbor as yourself." No other commandment is greater than these.'" (Mark 12:28-31)

Have you ever wondered what brings God the most pleasure? 
The out-flowing desire of a person who has been redeemed is to know what pleases Him. After all that He did for us in saving us from a life of sin and separation from God, and then eternity in hell still separated from God, it only makes sense to have so much gratitude in your heart that you want to do something for Him.



What do we do? I've seen many a Christian struggle to please God, struggle to do what they think might please Him, but they never sense His smile of pleasure on their lives, and they still feel far away from Him.

But God never saved us so that we can struggle through our life to please Him. Where in the bible does it say the whole point of His redemptive plan was for us to struggle through life trying to please Him?

According to the passage above, there is something far more important to God than being, as I heard one man put it, "human doings"...

 Loving God pleases God
Didn't He save you so that you could be reconciled to Him? You aren't just a slave -though that in and of itself is a pleasure- but a friend of God, a child of the King, a bride of the most perfect Bridegroom you can imagine, free to enter His presence with boldness, hear His voice, sit at His feet, watch Him work, a welcome member of His family.

The whole idea of the word reconcile is putting back together two lives that were separated by offense (sin). Who did the offending? You and I. Who did the reconciling? Jesus Christ! 

The greatest request He asks of us is simply, "love Me with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And then love others the way you wished to be loved."

Loving God is more than just a feeling
The word for love in the Greek is love in its strongest form. It is an unconditional love, a love that you choose to do. It means that God will not always do what you expect or desire, but your love for Him does not die. It does not waiver, but it is a simple, trusting kind of love. You love Him for Him, not what He does. And that requires that we know Him.

How do we love Him?

1. With all your heart
    
     Heart: The central part of you. When you love Him, you love Him willingly and wholeheartedly. He becomes everything to you.
"Those who know God have great contentment in God." -J.I.Packer (Book, Knowing God) 
2. With all your soul

      Soul: The seat of your emotions, appetites, passions, desires, senses. When you love Him, your desires, passions, etc. become centered on Him. He's the reason you want what you want, your deepest pleasure are the things that bring Him pleasure.
"Those who know God show great boldness for God." -J.I.Packer (Book, Knowing God) 
3. With all your mind

     Mind: Deep thought, it's exercise -imagination, mind, understanding, thoughts, intellect. When you love Him, your thoughts reflect who He is, your imagination is not filled with images that displease Him, you think about His ways, His words, what He must think. "What is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable..." becomes the topics of thought. (Phil. 4:8)
"Those who know God have great thoughts of God." -J.I.Packer (Book, Knowing God) 
4. With all your strength

     Strength: Ability, might, power, strength of body and mind, mental and moral strength, energy. When you love God, everything you do is for Him, your morals, what you deem right and wrong, what you do is all for Him, and if it can't be done for Him, you don't do it. The focus becomes His glory.
"Those who know God have great energy for God." -J.I.Packer (Book, Knowing God) 
 Loving God means...
Everything I am and everything I do should be a reflection of as love for God that is deeply seated in my emotions, my will, my thoughts. My appetites, my desires, my secret longings -all should be for Him. My abilities should be used for Him, and if that's impossible, then I should not use them at all. My morals, my standards, my lifestyle, should all reflect who He is. What I do, how I do it, all my actions should be taken with a conscious awareness that He is watching me and with a desire to bring Him pleasure. What I think about, what I strive to know -yes, even that- should reflect Him in His glory. That love for God gets poured into the way I treat others, too. I start to treat them in the same way which I desire to be treated, with the same love I receive from God. In other words, it's all about HIM! 
...Do you live life that way? 

Where does it all start?
Simple. You won't love anyone you don't know. He wishes for you to be deeply acquainted with Him. He wishes to show you Himself. We need to approach Him as a sovereign and know that already He has done everything necessary for us to know Him: He's removed all offenses, forgiven all sin. All He wants now is that you know Him. 

He knows you and isn't ashamed to have you come close to Him! J.I.Packer, in his book, Knowing God, says this: 
"What matters supremely... is not...that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it -the fact that he knows me, I am graven on the palms of his hands. I am never out of his mind. All my knowledge of him depends on his sustained initiative in knowing me. I know him because he first knew me, and continues to know me. He knows me as a friend, one who loves me; and there is no moment when his eye is off me, or his attention distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when his care falters."
It all depends on Him. We can't love Him without knowing Him, without knowing He knows us, without knowing, ultimately, that He LOVES us! 

"We love Him, because He first loved us." -1 John 4:19

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