He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” ~John 21:17
I was thinking of how difficult it is to talk to people in the U.S. about Christianity. Everyone has heard of it and, because of that, has usually already formed an opinion without really knowing what it is. They also have their defensive answers. I have often heard people say in their defense, "God loves me as I am." They acknowledge that God knows everything about them, yet loves them as they are...just as they are. What they really mean is that they expect God to love them without having to change or else He does not qualify as God to them.
Does God love people just as they are, even those who remain unchanged? Yes, He loves such as these like a parent loves the stubborn child, the disobedient child, and the disappointing child, but such a child does not receive the blessings of the willing, obedient, and pleasing child. What parent does not still love the child yet wishes for him to change also? What parent does not want his love reciprocated in word and deed?
The problem is not with God's love for us, but with our love for Him. To say that one believes God will love him just as he is requires no effort on his part and all the effort on God. In all my readings of the Bible, I have never found such thinking to be pleasing to God. This attitude lacks desire to seek God's heart, to want to please Him, to love Him.
Perhaps the questions we as Christians tend to ask are the wrong ones. Instead of asking if one believes in God, perhaps we should ask if one loves God. Jesus did this with Peter: "Do you love me?" Such a simple question that exposes the heart of the matter!
Do you love the Lord your God?
~ Thank you, my Lord, for laying this on my heart today. May I be ever prepared to asked this question when You have provided the opportunity. ~
