Are You in Love with God?

My church recently started a new series on the Ten Commandments. Upon first hearing that I inwardly groaned a bit and (with more than a hint of sarcasm) thought to myself “yay.” It’s not that I dislike the Ten Commandments, or Exodus, it’s just that I’ve heard them so much before. Sunday school, tons of movies, been there done that. Then I realized something—I have never written anything on them. They get an honorable mention every now and then, but I really could stand to learn about them in a new light. They were the first laws given to the Israelites, and therefore are important as a framework.

We went over the first commandment, which can be found in Exodus 20:2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

Pretty straightforward right? Well yes, but we can dig a bit deeper (here’s where being an English major is useful). My pastor talked about putting God first and how we can’t make idols out of things in our lives. Not idols as in small statues of elephants or smiling fat men, but idols like sports, fame, or relationships. I definitely make an idol out of my future, what kind of career I’ll get or where I will end up. Sometimes I find myself saying “I want to be the best darn writer there is, and write for the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal and everyone can read my work…” I also make an idol of the “perfect life” and am sorely disappointed when I see the brokenness around me—I even get angry at God for giving me a “bad hand.”

We all do it, we all make things important and our lives and if you look at my stories there is one work that screams out: disappointment. When you put something first in your life you get disappointed when it does not work out. I get disappointed when I go 0-3 in a baseball game, don’t get a new writing job, or when things just go wrong. I get angry and say it’s not fair, I say I put too much work into it blah, blah, blah.

Here’s a thought though, it’s an adventurous one, have you ever tried falling in love with God? While the world will disappoint us, God does not. God never leaves you, forgets you, ignores you, or tells you that you are not good enough. He never makes fun of your financial status, judges your clothes, tells you that you need to clean up your act. Instead God welcomes us with open arms, and all He requires is that we love Him.

It’s a bold statement, falling in love with God; we don’t really think about it that way. We think of religion as going to church and doing good deeds, but never as falling in love. To compare it to our lives, when you love someone you think about him/her. You buy that person something thoughtful, you do small favors, you put in effort; in other words: you care. I dare you to do the same with God. Put God in that special place in your life, dwell on His love, ask Him what He wants you to do, or just talk to Him. If you are angry tell Him why, if you are heartbroken instead of spiraling downward go down on your knees in prayer.

Note the last part of the verse, God adds that He brought us out of slavery. While we may not be enslaved in Egypt now we are enslaved to things of the world. We allow opinions of others, fashion statements, or our own self confidence to rule us. Instead, try to put God first in your life and see yourself be freed. It is not an easy thing to do, but it is the most rewarding by far.