Devotion Part 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.’”

This passage is in your Gospel of Luke. Jesus’ response to the lawyer can be found in other places too, elsewhere, in what you call your New Testament. And as I am sure that you know, this commandment first appears in the Book of Deuteronomy. It goes way back to the very foundations of our faith.

But first, who am I? I am one of the seventy, the disciples sent out by Jesus into the villages of Galilee. We had just returned, celebrating our success in bringing the Kingdom of God “near” as Jesus would say, to the local population, when this lawyer interrupted our party with his question. I was there to witness this exchange. 

Most of the time, such questioning from lawyers, Pharisees and the like, were aimed at tricking Jesus into an answer that could be criticized as a deviation from the law. I’m not so sure about this one, though. In my mind, he might have been sincere. He certainly seemed so. Of course, as you may remember, he followed up with the question, “Then who is my neighbor?” leading Jesus to share one of his classic stories, The parable of the Good Samaritan.

The lawyer’s question spoiled our celebration. I mean, it was a euphoric time, made all the more special in light of how unqualified and downright ordinary most of us were. Few of us, myself included, felt much confidence as we went out, on our own for the first time, leaving the security of Jesus behind. But in faith, we went, as he commanded.

Then, the lawyer stepped up with his challenging question, abruptly dampening our enthusiasm. We quickly came back down to earth from our celebration. I mean, it was a very serious question and Jesus certainly took it that way.

Personally, I believe I would re-phrase the lawyer’s question. I wouldn’t only ask about who is my neighbor, but instead, I would follow up by also asking this: what does it mean to love God? Yes, what does it mean to truly and completely love God? I mean, really, what does it mean?  I’m not sure that I know.

I understand what it means to love my family, because honestly, that’s easy. And my friends, I can say that I love them too. I mean, I would do just about anything for them. Jesus told us to love our enemies and now, that takes us into more challenging territory. But at least, I can see what that might look like. The act of forgiveness comes to mind.

But loving God? I’m not so sure about that. I mean, God doesn’t need anything, does he? Does God have feelings? Does God actually need for me to love him? What does God want from me?

Answering these questions requires some thought. And perhaps some soul-searching. One way is to listen to what Jesus said about God, whom he called his “Father.” 

And Jesus was crystal clear: for him, loving God was all about obeying the Father’s commands. But which ones? Even Jesus said that some were fundamental to our faith, while others could actually be broken for a higher purpose. Like love. So out of love, Jesus healed on the Sabbath. He touched lepers and other unclean people. And he, of course, stressed love for neighbor with the parable I mentioned above. Loving our neighbor is one way to love God, and if we do, we are obeying him.

But it’s not the only way. There’s more. Just watch and listen to Jesus. Yes, he loved his neighbors, feeding multitudes, blessing and healing people, and paying attention to the forgotten souls of our day. Read Matthew 25 to get an idea of how serving the “least of these” translates to serving Christ himself. That’s love. And loving Jesus is the same as loving the Father.

And if you watch and listen to Jesus, you will notice one more way that he loved his Father. It’s what I would call “devotion.”

And what is “devotion”?

I’m not an educated person, so I don’t have an easy answer. The best I can do is to offer some examples.

Here’s one from the Book of Psalms (Psalm 100):

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come into his presence with singing.

 Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise.
    Give thanks to him, bless his name.

 For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever,
    and his faithfulness to all generations.”

King David, especially, lived out this form of devotion, singing and praising the Lord with music, offered in great gratitude for his blessings. That’s one way to love God.

Another is prayer. Many times, Jesus left us to go to a lonely place, to pray to his Father. He prayed frequently. Read John 17 to better understand the importance of prayer to Jesus, as he prayed at length for us disciples. Praying to God, a sign of our devotion, is loving God.

Prayer by Albrecht Duerer

And finally, what for me is the most difficult way to show devotion to God:

Waiting for God.

“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (from Psalm 27)

Scripture is full of admonitions to wait for the Lord. Perhaps the most familiar is this one:

“…..but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (from Isaiah 40)

Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness, fasting and waiting for the Lord. And we have been instructed by Jesus to wait for his return.

“But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” (from Romans 8)

Why is waiting for God so hard? And why is it so important? I believe there is one answer that responds to both of these questions.

Waiting for God is so hard because it positions us as his children or if you prefer, his servants. But our egos are conditioned to action and leadership. And we want to follow our own agenda, don’t we? It’s hard to think of ourselves as children or servants. Instead, we strive to produce, and to rise above. Down deep, after all, we are climbers, aren’t we? Waiting seems counter to our thinking. And didn’t even Jesus command us to bear fruit? That requires action on our part, even work! Doesn’t it?

Yes, but remember: Jesus also told us that he is the vine and we are the branches, and without him, we can do nothing. Our egos may not like that, but we must accept it. We must wait for him to inspire and feed us.

And that is why waiting for God is also so important: it shows respect, humility, and yes, even love for God, when we wait for him. And honestly, it seems to me, when it’s extra hard for me to wait for God, perhaps then, I am showing even more devotion to him.

Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. (from Psalm 25)

And finally, what do we do while waiting on the Lord? Nothing less than serving our neighbors, singing praises to him, and waiting for him in prayer.

Copyright 2022 Robert Westheimer. All rights reserved.