love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. — Issac Watts
What if our response to God was motivated by love and not fear? Instead of being afraid of hell or being zapped by a vengeful distant God, we would be overwhelmed by the depth of God’s love.
God’s righteousness demands a penalty for sin. However, God’s love provided a path of redemption.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:6-11, New International Version, ©2011)
Personally, I remember being drawn to God by a strong desire for a relationship with God rather than avoiding God’s judgment. I wanted a relationship with him. If we are motivated by God’s love for us then serving Him becomes something we want to do rather than have to do.
The Dee Zone 