Falling in Love

“Hear , O Israel; The Lord our God is one: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4).

“You shall love…” is a startling way to begin a sentence. Not only are we resistant to being directed to love but we also have a common assumption that love can’t arise on command. “The heart loves what it loves” is the phrase we often hear, with an assumption that our hearts have their own agency regarding who, how, and what we love. It might be helpful to question that notion: Do we really have no input in who and how we love? Are we just at the whims of our hearts? In the naming of loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, we can hear an invitation rather than a command to fall in love with God. The question isn’t what our hearts feel but what practices cultivate good soil for our hearts, souls, and minds to fall in love with God.

It is helpful to remember that to “love God” is to first know we are responding to One who fully loves us. The often-quoted John 3:16 begins with these words of truth and promise: “For God so loved...” Insert your name to the end of this phrase, and allow the beauty of that love and promise to fall over your being in whatever state of life you find yourself. For God so loves me. The more we allow that love to flow over us in prayer, worship, and scripture, the better we can hear the invitation to more deeply grow in our love for God. God always initiates this love relationship.

This love relationship grows as we intentionally share life in the mundane and the thrilling. In the practices of giving prayers of thanks for today’s bread and in the miracles. It is the day-by-day walking with God that creates a deepening intimacy from which we sing, “tis so sweet to trust in Jesus…I have proved him o’er and o’er”.(1) We can grow in our understanding of God’s character, promises, calling, and ultimately trust him. As we know God better, we can fall in love with God in ever-deepening ways.

The image of God as our shepherd—particularly found in the 23rd Psalm—is both a great expression of God’s faithful love and an invitation to fall in love. Perhaps, like me, hearing this passage in the King James Version holds memories of the voices of those who have read this passage over you and with you. I can see the people who gave witness to falling in love with Jesus, their Shepherd. It also captures the moments across my life when I have received these words as a promise and assurance. I would encourage you to read it out loud, slowly.

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23 KJV)

The 23rd Psalm is a beautiful reminder of God’s character, which is one of love and faithfulness. Our God loves us with provision, rest, leading, restoring, comfort, providing, and promised presence. God loves us like a shepherd. “You shall love” is a call to return that love so that we may know all that God wants to pour into our lives out of love.

There is nothing more beautiful than hearing the testimony of an elderly person who has walked with God in a vibrant way across the years. Their story is not past tense. It is a present-tense witness that they keep falling in love as they encounter God in each new day. It is an alive witness that says, “The Lord is my Shepherd…surely goodness and mercy follow me.”

Dr. Mary Rearick Paul, D.Min, is a minister and Vice President of Student Life and Formation at Point Loma Nazarene University

(1) ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus. Text by: Louisa M Stead 1882. Tune: by William J Kirkpatrick.