Dave Chanski

Do you love God? Every true Christian loves God. Paul was blessing every true Christian who read or heard the epistle to the Ephesians when he wrote, “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity” (Ephesians 6:24). If you love God, you have greater affection for Him than for any other. Thus, a Christian wants to spend time with God in worship, reading His Word, and prayer, just as you would want to spend time with the man or woman you love most deeply.

The psalmist wrote, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psa 42:1-2) In contrast, many who merely call themselves Christians prefer spending time with friends, with the paper or TV, in bed, or at the lake to spending time in communion with God.

If you love God, that means that you esteem Him more highly than you do any other person or thing, including yourself. You want Him to be greatly honored. You want His name to be hallowed, His kingdom to come, His will to be done (Matthew 6:9-10). You delight to hear His Word and His wondrous works proclaimed. You rejoice to hear when sinners are converted to Christ. You pray for preachers and missionaries and earnestly desire their success. You tell others about your God so that they too may know His greatness and His love. You aim to obey Him and you long to see others do the same. It pains you to see men “kick dirt” on God’s law through their disobedience (Psalm 119:136).

How is it with you? Are you a Christian? Do you love God? Or do you constantly neglect communion with Him? Do friends, fishing, or football get more of your time and attention than the Word and worship of God? Do you serve Him only when it’s convenient or easy? Are you allowing what is merely a casual relationship to pass for true love? “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified” (2 Corinthians 13:5).

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