I believe we are all familiar with the scripture that instructs that the most important thing is to love God. We find it in the ten commandments given to Moses which we see as a law, missing the point entirely.
Yes, Scriptures refer to it as the Law but the Law was a summary of relationships based on honour. At the base of all law you will find relationships. The law forbidding jay walking is addressing the unequal relationship between pedestrian and driver. The driver can easily kill a pedestrian so a system was put in place designating places for crossing roads and the rule that drivers must stop at those places. In turn, these places are the only acceptable place to cross. This honours the pedestrian's need to cross and the drivers need to drive. It protects both.
The law given to Moses is based on relationships of honour. The first few have to do with us honouring Yahweh and the last few are concerning us honouring each other. Honour is only possible when all relationships develop from the foundation of love. So it should not have been any surprise that when Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment that he answered, to love God with your entire self, and the second, to love and value your neighbour as yourself. So let's consider the simplicity of the first.
Love only happens in relationship. You can admire someone from a distance. You can be sexually attracted to them without knowing them. But love happens as you know them. Then how can Jesus command us to love our enemy and to love strangers? Because there are all kinds of levels and types of love, which takes more than a blog to explain. But this love that we find in Scripture is referring to the complete giving of self. It is a love that provokes trust, faith. It is uncomplicated. A total surrender.
Without understanding the simplicity of this relationship we will always struggle with obedience. There is a reason Jesus stated that love will empower us to do what he has commanded. We often talk about obedience, the importance, the struggle to surrender. We even develop systems for "getting there" but there is not a system that we could ever develop that will not complicate this simple relationship. Obedience is never a struggle when it is empowered by love. Love is the key and relationship is the key to love.
All that is required for salvation is belief and you can get to belief without love but once you have encountered Jesus, gratitude should provoke us to a passionate love that says "all of me Jesus". This is not the end but the beginning of a journey of discovery. Love is not complicated but the size of it takes a lifetime to grasp. We are always learning and growing. Our heart and mind are under constant transformation by the Spirit. It is not a self-improvement project but an ongoing lesson of surrender.
Salvation requires belief but love requires relationship. This is the key to the simplicity of our life in Jesus. Our focus is on Jesus and our relationship with him. Everything flows from this relationship. We spend all day with him, including him in all our thoughts, ideas and plans. We include him in our conversations. We sing to him and show gratitude to him for everything in our day. It is exciting to have conversation with him and actually hear his voice in the many forms he uses for communication. We don't restrict the relationship to some complicated system of prayer, Bible study and acts of service.
It is as we walk with him throughout our day that his voice becomes louder and his desires clearer. We begin to see the patterns of his love, who he draws us to and what he has us do. We begin to appreciate his heart for people because it reminds us how much he loves us. Our heart is filled with gratitude and our passion grows. Relationship with him, our love for him, pushes out anything that does not honour him.
It really is simple. Loving Father causes his will, his love, his desire, his plan to be more important than anything else in our life. We gain the perspective that our lives are no longer ours because Jesus has brought us into himself and now he lives Father's will through us. We don't even really think about obedience any more as all we want is what he wants. No complicated system is going to change us like this. So nothing should be more important to us than pursuing this relationship with him so that we love him with our entire being.
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