Do You Love Me?

Do you love me? That's a question that we probably have all been asked before and have asked ourselves. Sometimes the person asking just needs reassurance and sometimes there is an uncertainty that needs verifying. Love is a verb....an action word. If we love, we do; we show that love to the one we love. We find the little things that please that person and we delight in doing them for that special someone. If we are making a meal for them, we will make the one they like the best. We strive to bring them happiness through the things we do for them. We think of them and their needs before we think of ourselves. We treat them in a way that they would never have to question our love for them; they would never have to ask that question; they would just know that we do.

Imagine for a moment that God asked you that question: do you love me? What if He made it personal and called you by name? ____________ (your name) do you love me? He asked Simon Peter that very question. Even though He knew the answer He wanted Peter to search his heart and see if he truly did love the Lord. (John 21:16-18) Once Simon Peter answered three times that he did love the Lord, Jesus gave him something to do: He said feed my sheep.

It's easy to say 'I love you Lord', but are we showing that love to Him? In Deuteronomy 10:12 God, Himself, gives us this command: "And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,". I find it interesting that the sentence starts with a question from God as if He is saying 'do you really want to know what I want from you?'

We don't have to go through life wondering what God wants, what would make Him happy and pleased with us. He tells us:

1. That you fear Him as your God; the One who made you and everything you see around you. The One who made the planets, the stars and the sky. The One who holds your next breath in His hand.The One who protects you and cares for you. The One who provides for you.

2. That you walk in all His ways - knowing His Word and what it says that you obey all of it. That you do things God's way and not your own. That you don't follow the standards of the world but God's standards. My mother use to say 'just because everyone else is doing it doesn't make it right.' Follow God's ways.

3. That you love Him - have confidence in Him as your Father and true Friend, depend on Him for your every need, and love Him because He loved us while we were still sinners.

4. That you serve Him - give Him the worship that He wants. Serve Him with all your heart - all of your affections, and with all your soul. To put Him first in all things. Many Christians will say that they are 'serving' the Lord by attending church services but I ask you: who is being served? Jesus said that the Sabbath has been created for man (Mark 2:27). We go to church to get spiritually refueled for the week ahead and of course, to worship God. But to serve God means to take it a step further and just like Jesus told Peter to do something for Him, we need to be doing something for Him too to show our love for Him.

In John 14:12 Jesus said: "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." We are to be doing the things that Jesus did. We are to be busy for Him. Ephesians 2:10 says: "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

God is asking this day: do you love Me? Are you showing Him that you do? What are you doing for Him? Do you love Him more than anything else in the world? Do you put Him first in all things? Search your heart and you will know the answers to these questions. God already does, but just like He asked Simon Peter three times if he loved Him, He is asking you today: do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?