Loving Jesus 1st

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God & keep His commandments.” 1 John 5:2

This morning as I was getting up, the Lord grabbed my attention as my eyes glossed this verse. I stopped & read it again. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God..”

We live in a time of history where one spiritual gift has been elevated into leadership of the people of God, the gift of pastor/teacher. With it comes a focus that is naturally upon people.

I was speaking on the phone to a friend in Australia the other night. This lady is an amazing woman & mother who has been lavishly gifted with a pastoral heart. As I shared some of what I was sensing prophetically, a response came out of this huge pastoral heart of hers. Empathy, compassion, care leaked through the phone line & flooded all over me. I was impacted.

Her heart was all about me – the person & for other people.

As I chewed on this verse over breakfast & the morning’s activities, I pondered.. when we love God, this is how we know we love the children of God. What a radical thought, that as we love God, we know we love His children.

Loving God is in a very real sense loving His children.

Just as others love our own children, we experience a dimension of that love & acceptance also as parents.

How many times have I been blessed as someone loved God, showing me what that looked like, like my Dad when he was alive, or tasted the fruit in a person who loves God. His perfume, fills them & is ‘smelt’ by others. As they ‘taste’ of Him, (Psalm 34:8) that flavor spreads.

Loving God is our greatest pastoral focus. Perhaps this is why it is the first & greatest commandment.