In the Book of John, chapter 18, we witness colossal failure. Peter, who has walked closely with Jesus for three years, has just denied knowing Him 3 times in order to save his own skin. In chapter 21, after the resurrection, Jesus intentionally seeks out and restores Peter. Peter is asked 3 times, "do you love me?" We read later in the New Testament that Peter goes on to be an incredibly powerful leader of the early church. That question from Jesus to Peter, "do you love me?" has me thinking. What if Jesus were to ask me that question..."Ryan, son of Big Jim, do you truly love me?" I know my answer would likely sound much like Peter's, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." But do I? Do I really? I just finished a book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan, and in the book these questions are posed,
"Are we in love with God or just His stuff?"
"Do you love this God who is everything, or do you just love everything He gives you?"
"Do you believe that God is the greatest thing you can experience in the whole world?"
"Do you believe that the Good News is not merely the forgiveness of your sins, the guarantee you won't go to hell, or the promise of life in heaven?"
I have to admit, I often come at Jesus with the mindset of gratitude for His willingness to redeem me for eternity (which is certainly a good thing to be grateful for), but I fail to appreciate the opportunity He's given me to love Him. I try to have the proper amount of reverence and awe, but like Francis Chan, I've gotten used to "focusing on His fearsomeness to the exclusion of His great and abounding love".
I've spent the last few days pondering this, and asking God to help me fall in love with Him like never before. I want my love for Jesus to the THE defining quality of my life. Not Jesus and anything else; just Him. Period.
I've also been trying to figure out how to make this an idea for coaches, since this blog is intended for a coaching audience. Rather than use some cleverly contrived analogy, I'll leave it simply at this. When Jesus is our first love, as we allow Him to teach us to love Him with all our heart, soul and mind, when heaven sounds great not because we'll have an eternity free from grief, but rather because He is there and we will be with Him, as that love begins to characterize everything about us, we will do everything we do, (including coaching with a purpose and an eye on eternity) in a way that we could never experience otherwise.
That's what I'm praying for myself and for you. I want us all to live every day madly in love with Jesus.
80's Lyric
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