Imagine if you had the audacity to approach a guy/girl you were interested in and say, “You will love me. You will marry me. That’s just the way it is.”
After a slap in the face you both would be on your way, probably never to speak again. You and I just don’t do that. If you do, you may need a crash course in people skills.
But what about a Scripture verse like this: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5). Is this the same sort of thing?
This verse is the great commandment. We’ve all heard it. We all know it. But do we realize this is a commandment? This is not a “if you feel like it, love me”. This is a “do or die” sort of thing. It’s in the syllabus. Not only is loving God supposed to be our joy, but it’s also our duty. Does this trouble you in the same way the “you will marry me” scenario does? Probably not. But why?
I believe it comes to down to the fact that there is no-one or no-thing like God. He is completely “other than” anything we’ve ever known. We relate to Him in human terms because that’s all we know. But he is set apart, different, holy, worthy, and a gazillion other attributes that even eternity will struggle to unravel. Because He created us, we love Him.
But that’s not the whole picture.
David said in Psalm 116, “I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.” It all starts with loving Him for WHO He is, but it get’s personal too. We love Him for WHAT He has done for us. The goodness and kindness of God to me, a wretched sinner, is absolutely mind blowing.
Good worship leaders lead worship because they love God. Not because they are gifted or popular or musical. They love God so much that they enjoy directing attention to His glory, His grace, and His goodness.