Loving Jesus First

The living room intimacy Mary enjoyed with Jesus will never come out of the busyness of Martha’s kitchen. Busyness . . . breeds distraction. - Joanna Weaver(1)

One time a counterfeit bill made it into circulation and no one knew it was fake for quite some time. It was spent hundreds of times on various things. It was even used to serve the kingdom of God by being given to help the poor, and by supporting a missionary on the field. Eventually, someone caught the counterfeit bill and destroyed it because it was fake.

Like the counterfeit bill, our life can be in circulation going to and from. Our life may be used to serve the Lord in many ways, and be utilized to do many good things for His kingdom, but still be fake all at the same time. We can claim to know God, and try to prove it through our service, but if we don’t know Jesus Christ then we’ll one day be destroyed just like the counterfeit bill. Listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 7:22-23:

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me you who practice lawlessness.”

In our message this morning we’ll look at what it is to truly know and love God, and what grace says we must do as an expression of our love for Him. I must say from the very beginning of this message that our expression of love for the Lord is not necessarily found in our service for Him.

Love for God Must Precede Service

If a wife were to approach her husband and say, “Oh, I love you so much honey! Please use me in any way you want! Just command me to serve you, and I will do what you ask!” then the husband would think that his wife had gone off the deep end! If, however, she were to say, “I love you dear, and would like to spend some time with you this evening,” then that would be considered normal.

A relationship is built on love, and spending time with the one you love. It’s not proven through grueling service, or one-sided submission. It’s similar in our relationship with the Lord. Our love for God must precede our service for Him, and this is an important truth the Lord wants to instill within His people. We read here in Luke 10:38-42:

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.

But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:38-42).

Luke used this account to reinforce a truth found earlier in the same chapter. Back in verses 25-28, we see how a lawyer attempted to test Jesus, and he asked Him, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Lk 10:25). Jesus then questioned him concerning what he had found written in the Law of Moses, and the lawyer replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (10:27).

There are two commandments mentioned in these verses, and they are 1.) to love God, and 2.) to love one’s neighbor. In looking at the Ten Commandments (cf. Ex 20:3-17) you’ll notice that the first four pertain to the worship of God, and the remaining six concern the relationship with our neighbor. So, really it all boils down to two commandments of loving God and neighbor.

God placed the first four Commandments about worshipping Him in first place for a reason, and that is because the Lord desires to be worshipped first above all else, for He is a jealous God (Ex 34:14). He actually wants our “worship” of Him to come before our “service” for Him. Therefore, our love for God needs to be our top priority in life. It needs to come first before anything else.

If we’ll learn to love the Lord with all our heart, and truly fall head-over-heals for Him, then all other requirements that He has stipulated will naturally follow (cf. Mt 22:37-40). Loving our neighbor [or doing any other form of service] will be an overflow of our love relationship with God. For instance, if we work a job and dislike the boss, then we probably won’t succeed at our job. However, if we truly appreciate the boss then we’ll have a much better chance of success.