Daily Bread

They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.’ Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, ‘Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.

‘I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.

Our relationship with God is exactly that — a relationship — and it's a relationship of mutual love.

From our side of the relationship, all God asks us of us is that we love — not just with our hearts and minds, but with our actions and behaviours. Love is a verb and, by definition, needs to be expressed or demonstrated. For example, I cannot say I love someone who is starving if I have bread and do not share it with them. To share this bread is to love others, but importantly, is to love God.

From God's side of the relationship, the Holy Trinity will love us, reveal themselves to us, and the Holy Spirit will come and make their home in us. This filling of the Holy Spirit enables us to see the world with God's eyes, and the ability to love others the way God loves them, with an agape, self-sacrificial, self-giving, and unconditional love.

I think that modern-day writers would probably call this 'synergy' or 'symbiosis', but the writers of the Bible, using Jesus' own words, call our relationship with God 'oneness'. In John, Chapter 17, Jesus prays for this disciples, "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you." Like all relationships, it takes time to grow into that love, and if we give it time and space, our love grows deeper day-by-day.

Our relationship with God starts, simply, by us choosing to love Jesus. We don't have to have it all together, be in a super-spiritual place, or have the right words. We simply make a choice, stick with it as best we can, and let God do the rest.

Holy God
Today, I turn back to you
and I choose to love you.
I long to be one with you,
so please fill me with your Spirit,
that my love might overflow
to a world that desperately
needs a touch of your love.