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True Love

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Jesus said that the greatest commandment in the Torah is to love God, citing Deuteronomy 6:4-5.

When you think of love, what first comes to mind? For many people, love is a feeling of affection. The Scriptures tell us to love God with all of our heart, soul, and strength. Does that mean that we are to muster up intense emotions of affection toward God?

Certainly affectionate feelings play into our relationship with God. How can one not feel a sense of affection toward the God that created us and continues to give us life? But we have not met our obligation simply by generating an emotion.

Abraham was called a "friend of God" (2 Chronicles 20:7, Isaiah 41:8, James 2:23). The Hebrew word for "friend" is ohev, which literally means "one who loves." It comes from the same root as the word used in the command, "You shall love the LORD your God." The Hebrew word ohev, "one who loves" is a way to speak of a covenant partner. Abraham entered into covenant relationship with God. Whatever God asked of him, he did. His devotion to the covenant with God was intense and unwavering.

Certainly we know that the covenant at Mount Sinai that God made with Israel through Moses involved observance of commandments. But did you know that the covenant God made with Abraham also involved keeping commandments? We know of Abraham as the "father of faith," and Paul points to Abraham as an example of one who was justified by faith. But look what reason God gave for blessing Isaac:

"I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." (Genesis 26:4-5)

Loving God, in the sense of participating in a covenant relationship with him, is intrinsically connected with obedience to his commandments.

Here's a fun exercise: try a Bible search with "love" and "commandments" and see what happens! You will see how closely the two are related. The results speak for themselves.