Do We Love the Saviour?

Ian Hamilton brings this question to us… do we unabashedly love the Saviour?

I read through this chapter and I was brought to mind a gal from one of the local churches.  She came to faith late in life and her love for the Lord is abundantly clear in every single conversation I have with her.  

And here I have to admit a failing, particularly after I read this chapter.  I’ve always attributed that love to “newborn Christian” she’ll settle down soon.

But in this chapter, Mr. Hamilton makes it clear that we need to cultivate that kind of Love for our Lord and Saviour daily.   To be so in love with the Lord that everyone around us knows it. 

Like when a young couple is in love.. EVERYONE knows it.  They do.  The snuggling, hand-holding, the constant chattering about their loved one. 

Can we be more ardent and less self-conscious in our love for the Lord? Have we lost to sense of wonder in what the Lord has done for us?

Consider the woman from Luke 7 who, through tears, poured perfume over Jesus’ feet.  So in love with the Lord that she used perfume on her feet, crying as she did so.  Jesus’ response? “Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much.”  Her love for him, so apparent, her freedom from sin, so new.   Do we see our sin and what Christ has done for us?

Does our love for him reflect his love for us?

This question really makes me think, realizing how quietly settled in my faith I’ve become.  NOT THAT A Settled love is a bad thing…but Christ wants our lavishly poured out love you know?  He calls us to love him more than anything, so what does that look like?

Does that look like a quiet love, one of acknowledgement and silent faith or does it look like the joyful love of this lady I know?   How can I turn my love of the Lord, who I’ve known since I was wee young, into that joyful exuberant love?   God calls me to love him “more than these”.   If I can tell my sweetheart a quiet “I love you” every single day… can’t I do the same with my Lord?

If I don’t care who knows that I love my man, shouldn’t I have the same attitude toward God?  Shouldn’t I be able to freely talk about the Lord (and the things of the Lord) as freely as I talk about my fellow or my son or GASP… my bunnies?  I fear too often I fail to do this.  I fail to be exuberant in my faith… and God calls me to more.

How do you manage?   Are you able to be exuberant in your faith?   How do you cultivate that mindset?  How do you show that you love the Saviour?