So, I've got an idol that I keep close to my heart. I guess you could say that this idol is really the closest one to my heart. I never go after any others unless this idol has (as it inevitably does, being an idol) let me down. This idol is called Work. Work, for me, is never an end in itself (at least not when I'm serving this idol). It's always a means to an end: a way of earning something. There are so many things to earn: money, fame, respect, praise. None of these things, by themselves, really appeals to me. The thing I'm trying to earn most often is love.
The question is, is this even possible? Is it possible to earn love? My idol says it is. People judge me based on what I do, and if I do the right things, then I will be acceptable to them and loved by them. My idol says that it works the same with god. What I want, more than anything, is His love, and this, says Work, I must earn. god sees what I do, and his approval or rejection of me rises or falls with my actions: he does not see my heart or my intent--and if he does he does not care. Intentions are cheep: actions are what counts.
The problem with this approach to god is that it never works out. If I were to read the Bible and simply jot down every action God commends, I would have a list a mile long of things I need to do to earn god's love. I would never get them all done. I could try--I have tried--but in the end I am left only with exhaustion and the realization that I have failed. I have not lived up to every single commanded work, and in so doing, I have failed to earn god's love. I have instead invited his hatred. Condemnation comes from my idol of Work now, and this is the point where I usually run off in search of comfort in some other idol--believing that I cannot now hope to have it in God.
But this is a false gospel assaulting my heart. It is a lie because, at bottom, True Love cannot be earned by any means. After all, it is easy to say, "I love you" to someone who has done incredible works for you. Anyone can do that. Even the most reprobate people who drift from relationship to relationship only ever caring about themselves can still give "earned love." When the works falter or stop, these people just as quickly go cold--for they never loved in the first place, not really. They were only attracted to the works that were done for them. True Love is something permanent and stable. It cannot be earned. Works done by the beloved or misdeeds committed cannot either increase or decrease it. It is this Love that will prompt a wife to remain faithful to a husband who's in a coma. It is this Love which every woman seeks when she asks "will you love me when I'm old and ugly?" Earned love is cheap, but this Love is described in the Bible as being so valuable that all the riches of a billionaire would be considered a contemptuously low offer for its purchase (Song of Solomon 8:7). This kind of Love is not for sale at any price.
This is the kind of Love God offers me. He does not offer earned love. God gave the law to Israel as an experiment hundreds of years long to prove that His requirements for earned love could not possibly be met (Romans 3:20). Then, while we were yet sinning despicably against Him and provoking His righteous anger, He demonstrated once and His True Love for us, by the greatest act of Love ever: giving His life for us on the cross (Romans 5:8). This is the same Love He extends to me even now. When I try to earn His love, He is not impressed. When I fail and despair of His love, He still extends True Love to me, which nothing can buy. His forgiveness and grace prove false my idol of Work. I cannot earn His love, for it is eternally mine!
The question is, is this even possible? Is it possible to earn love? My idol says it is. People judge me based on what I do, and if I do the right things, then I will be acceptable to them and loved by them. My idol says that it works the same with god. What I want, more than anything, is His love, and this, says Work, I must earn. god sees what I do, and his approval or rejection of me rises or falls with my actions: he does not see my heart or my intent--and if he does he does not care. Intentions are cheep: actions are what counts.
The problem with this approach to god is that it never works out. If I were to read the Bible and simply jot down every action God commends, I would have a list a mile long of things I need to do to earn god's love. I would never get them all done. I could try--I have tried--but in the end I am left only with exhaustion and the realization that I have failed. I have not lived up to every single commanded work, and in so doing, I have failed to earn god's love. I have instead invited his hatred. Condemnation comes from my idol of Work now, and this is the point where I usually run off in search of comfort in some other idol--believing that I cannot now hope to have it in God.
But this is a false gospel assaulting my heart. It is a lie because, at bottom, True Love cannot be earned by any means. After all, it is easy to say, "I love you" to someone who has done incredible works for you. Anyone can do that. Even the most reprobate people who drift from relationship to relationship only ever caring about themselves can still give "earned love." When the works falter or stop, these people just as quickly go cold--for they never loved in the first place, not really. They were only attracted to the works that were done for them. True Love is something permanent and stable. It cannot be earned. Works done by the beloved or misdeeds committed cannot either increase or decrease it. It is this Love that will prompt a wife to remain faithful to a husband who's in a coma. It is this Love which every woman seeks when she asks "will you love me when I'm old and ugly?" Earned love is cheap, but this Love is described in the Bible as being so valuable that all the riches of a billionaire would be considered a contemptuously low offer for its purchase (Song of Solomon 8:7). This kind of Love is not for sale at any price.
This is the kind of Love God offers me. He does not offer earned love. God gave the law to Israel as an experiment hundreds of years long to prove that His requirements for earned love could not possibly be met (Romans 3:20). Then, while we were yet sinning despicably against Him and provoking His righteous anger, He demonstrated once and His True Love for us, by the greatest act of Love ever: giving His life for us on the cross (Romans 5:8). This is the same Love He extends to me even now. When I try to earn His love, He is not impressed. When I fail and despair of His love, He still extends True Love to me, which nothing can buy. His forgiveness and grace prove false my idol of Work. I cannot earn His love, for it is eternally mine!
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