What does God want to say to you? In recent weeks, I’ve written on this subject: “Listen to God Daily.” For more than twenty years, I’ve been using the Robert Murray M’Cheyne Bible reading plan. The plan calls for reading in four different places consecutively through the Bible. By the end of the year, one will read through the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms two times in the year. I love this reading plan because you are able to see themes interwoven throughout different sections of the Bible. When I sense God drawing my attention to similar themes or concepts, I know to pay attention.

The theme of love stood out to me in recent readings. The reading from Psalm 86 and Ephesians 3 was particularly convicting and encouraging.

For great is your steadfast love toward me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

Psalm 86:13, 15

The same day’s reading took me to Ephesians 3 where Paul prayed the following for the Ephesian believers:

¹⁴For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:14-21

Both David and Paul intersect the greatness and love of God. David had testified to God’s uniqueness, glory, and greatness in verses 8-11. David responded with thankfulness and the testimony of God’s great steadfast love. Steadfast love is hesed or loving-kindness. It is God’s covenant love that can’t be broken.

Paul wants the church to be rooted and grounded in love knowing its depth and greatness. God’s great and glorious love that “surpasses knowledge” sparks a stanza of praise “to him is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.”

I read these two chapters on the same day just a few days after I read Paul in Galatians 5 commend love to the church:

⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

¹³For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Galatians 5:6, 13

All this came in the same seven day period after I preached about the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7 where Jesus says this to the church:

⁴But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

Revelation 2:4

It seemed clear to me that God wanted me to pay attention to his command to love.

Here are some observations about love from my reading this week:

• Faith and love work together. The Christian life functions with love and faith. Through faith we accept the gospel. By love we live from the gospel. To live as followers of Jesus we need faith and love to work together in our Christian lives.
• We need to be loved as much as we need to love. Paul and David both emphasized growing in our understanding of God’s love. The more we meditate on God’s love for us and bask in his love, the more God’s love will change us.
• Love is the greatest command for the Christian. If we get everything else right in our lives, but fail to love, then we’ve missed what’s most crucial. We do need sound doctrine and faith, but as Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 13, the “greatest of these is love.”

Meditate on some of these love passages this week. Ask yourself the following assessment questions.

• Does love motivate my serving? Why or why not?
• Do I believe I’m loved?
• Am I praying for myself and others to grow in love?
• Have I neglected loving God and others?
• Will I commit to grow in love?

Photo by Emmanuel Phaeton on Unsplash