What does its really mean to be lovers of God?
It's funny to me the different ways that men and women get ready for dates. I noticed it one day when my wife and I were getting ready to go out on a date. I was taking in the romantic mood and setting which my wife had set up as she got ready. She had a bath with nice smelling salts and candles. She turned on some lovely peaceful romantic music and she was using the time to make herself as captivating as she could be for an evening out with her husband. It was a nice ritual and it fit her so well. When she is done she is ready to flow out the door and be swept away on a romantic night with her husband.
But in my head I was thinking about the way in which I get ready for dates if Laura is not in the house or before we got married. Oh I turn on music alright, the louder the better. Whatever it is that gets me moving. The getting ready process I am playing my best air guitar and drums. It's one of those times when I scream out the melody that is way to high for me to sing and feel like I got it right on. Shave, slap on the hair gel, the whole time my feet never stop moving to the beat. When I am done I am ready to rock out the door for an evening of thrills and adventure with my wife.
Is one way better than another? No not really, we both have the same goal. We both want a great night together with each other and we are fully confident it will come. We simply approach it in a different way. We are both lovers of each other in our own ways.
In 2 Timothy chapter 3 Paul tells Timothy in the last days there will be those who are lovers alright. Lovers of themselves, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure, having a form of godliness but denying its power. But they are not lovers of God. Paul actually says they really are unloving and without forgiveness.
When we are getting ready for our date we could be going out for many different reasons. We could be going out because we like the way we look when we get all dressed up (lovers of ourselves), we could be going out to impress others with the extravagance of our clothes or a great tip (lovers of money), or we could be going out because we really love to eat good food and we know the loving we will get out of a "romantic" evening (lovers of pleasure).
But if we went out for these reasons rather than to be with each other would we really have any love at all? We would have the appearance of being in love but would we have the power of a truly loving relationship? Would we come to the end of the evening and separate to our own things and find ourselves all the more lonely?
It is good for us to want to look good...for each other. It is good for us to have a great meal and a great night when we get back home...with each other. When our days and dates are spent seeking to love the other and growing in the warmth of the mutual support we offer each other there we will have not only an appearance of a relationship but the power of our love in one another's lives.
If we read our bibles in the morning to check something off our christian duty to do list, if we dress up and go to church to show we are good people, if we give our offering so that some how we will be financially blessed, if we raise our hands in worship only to get the thrill of shocking the old conservatives next to us then we have an appearance of a relationship but we don't have any power.
As I have been pausing to listen to what God might have to say to me these last couple of days I keep sensing that he is emphasizing his love. I need God's love in my life. I need the power it brings for me to be able to live with love and forgiveness towards my family and others around me. I need to be a lover of God and I need his love in me!
May we be lovers of God today. I don't want just the appearance of godliness I want to be a lover of God. Don't you?
