The Power of Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go

     A lot of people have a wrong view of Christianity as a list of "do's and don'ts" and because of this they wind up making their identity about things they do for Christ instead of finding their identity in Christ alone and what He has done for us. We can never do enough good and avoid enough bad to measure up to God's standard. His standard is perfection. (Leviticus 11:45, Matthew 5:48) That's why we all need Jesus because He met the standard of perfection for us- because He is God's perfect son and He is perfection. He is God. His death and Resurrection pays the price for all sins- the punishment of Hell we all deserve Christ paid for us. When we put faith in Him, He saves us because He loves us and He keeps His Word. And His Spirit dwells in us to guide us into all truth and draw us closer to Himself.
     I was thinking on this some as I read about Hawk Nelson's lead singer who has sadly fallen away from his faith in Jesus. :-( Among other questions and doubts, this is one of the concerns he raised. He felt his faith was more about obligation and "do's and don'ts" in some legalistic pretense of The Gospel.
    But that's not The Gospel at all. The Good News of Jesus is that the work is done! The good we could never do has been done for us. When we put faith in Jesus, we enter into a covenant much like that of marriage. (Our relationship with God is even described in those terms in Ephesians 5 and Revelation 21:2.) A husband and wife united as one in the holy bonds of matrimony are not seeking to do things to impress each other. They do things for each other because they love each other! There is a relationship there that is real and active and it's driven by love! There's a reason husbands and wives tend to even physically look like each other over the years as they become so united in body, mind and spirit. They accept each other and come to enjoy even activities they may not have previously liked or cared about solely because their spouse enjoys them! Anything that reminds them of each other brings them joy!
     The song I have linked came to mind for me because I think it captures that feeling of ecstasy so well that comes with being in love for the first time. I think it's a great picture of the love relationship that develops between us and God. We want to get to know all we can about Him just as I would for my wife (if I had one.) We want to spend time with Him in the same way. We pray to Him constantly and we read and reread and reread over and over again His love letter to us in The Bible. We love saying His Name and thinking about Him. We love seeing acts of love and kindness that remind us of Him. We love to do those things that we know please Him- even things that we previously may not have liked because being with Him changes us. We hate the things He hates as well because we are of one mindset with Him.
    Our attitude should be like David's in the Psalms where he pours out his love for The Lord! In Psalms 119:2, we are to seek God with our whole heart. (And verses 9-12) In verse 14, I delight in God's testimonies as much as in all riches. In verses 15-16, my eyes are fixed on God's ways and I won't forget His Word and statutes. I hope in His Word in verse 81 and I meditate on it all the day in verse 97. The entire chapter says over and over again how much David delights in The Lord and His Word.
      Jesus is the treasure hidden in a field worth selling everything I have to buy the field and get the treasure! Jesus is the pearl of great price worth selling everything I own in order to buy the precious pearl! Of course, I don't have to pay anything to have Jesus- God gives Him to me for free! (See Matthew 13)
In coming after Him, I deny myself, take up my cross daily and follow Him. I lose my life for His sake and He saves it. (Luke 9:23-24) There's no profit in gaining the whole world and losing my soul. (Matthew 16:24-28) But for me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21) Jesus is better than anything else my heart desires. (Psalms 73:23-26 and 84:10) The love relationship I have with Him naturally makes me to be more like Him each day and naturally makes me fall deeper in love with Him all the time as I understand more and more the depths of His love for me. (Romans 5:8, Romans 8:38-39)
     That's the power of His love and The Gospel. It's not rote religion- it's reinvigorating relationship! It's the power of being "seized by a great affection", as N. Gordon Cosby put it. As Lifehouse put it, it's like "feeling alive all over again" and "being in love for the first time". That's the power of Love that wilt not let me go! It's believing wholeheartedly, whether I always feel it or not, that God is there and that He loves me beyond all my imagining and understanding and loving Him for who He is because He's worthy of all worship- and knowing that I'm right where I'm supposed to be in His arms forever and seeking to let everyone know about Jesus and His love. :-)
 
Lifehouse- "First Time"
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J0YvWQNWEJA

Andrew Peterson- "The Power of a Great Affection"
https://youtu.be/_dtBVvMmHnY