God Is Lovable

God is lovable. By that I don't mean that He is irresistibly cute and cuddly like a newborn cocker spaniel. God is lovable in the sense that loving Him is doable and desirable.

I'm basing this claim on what is known as the "Great Commandment".

Jesus was approached by an expert in religious law who tested Him with this question*:

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment."

God only expects the possible from His children. We are commanded to love the Lord with our whole being. But I have to get real here. Do I fall short of the whole-heart, entire-soul, and undivided-mind standard of love? Are there attachments to and affections for things that block radical (to the root) love for God? If my answer is "yes", where can I go to have a mystical angioplasty performed to clear my blocked spiritual arteries? That place of cleansing and restoration is on my knees, confessing my sins at the foot of the cross of Jesus. The Lord blasts the blockages and I see Him and His amazing love. How else can I respond but to love Him in return?

God is lovable. Loving Him becomes almost unavoidable and ultimately desirable when we contemplate the Father, revealed in the face of His divine Son, illuminated by the Spirit.

*Matthew 22

It's A Mystery To Me

The word "mystery" brings to mind unsolved crimes and movie thrillers. Did you ever wonder what "mystery" means in the context of our faith in God? My MS Word dictionary offers this definition: a Christian belief or truth that is considered to be beyond human understanding and can be made known only by divine revelation. Something unknowable is made known -- though through a glass darkly on this side of eternity.

The NIV translation shows the word "mystery" or "mysteries" 32 times in the Bible as in "the mystery of his will" and "the mystery of Christ". In Col. 2:2 St. Paul comes flat out and identifies "the mystery of God". He writes, "My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ." God Himself is the ultimate Truth beyond human understanding Who is made known by Divine Revelation -- also known as Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh. In the opening passages of his gospel, St. John teaches, "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only [Christ], who is at the Father's side, has made him known."