Children of God: Loving our Father

Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV)
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments”

The “Greatest Commandment” is to love God.   It sounds so simple and straight forward.  I always have loved God.  Why shouldn’t I?  He has given everything for me.  What would be more natural than to love and worship him?  And yet there has always been a question in the back of my mind.  Why does God “need” our love?  From a purely human perspective he sounds almost insecure, pining away for our affections. 

Since becoming a parent I’m starting to better understand it.  There is nothing better than a toddler coming up to you unprompted and saying, I love you Mommy.  It’s not that my ego needs a boost, I know that my sons love me but to hear them say it just fills my heart with joy.  As a parent my job is to prepare them for life.  To take care of their physical needs while also teaching them what’s dangerous, what is proper behavior, and how to love.  We are children of God.  Our heavenly father is doing the same for us.  He provides for our needs, teaches us, disciplines us and teaches us how to love. 

What more could any parent want than to see their child mature?  To see that the time and the work and the love you have put in has brought about a strong, loyal, loving adult and to have a respectful relationship with that adult child.  God loves us, and has given us the “Greatest Gift”:  his son on the cross so that we can live with him in heaven.  Our loving Father is preparing us for life eternal.

Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.