Love Languages
Thursday, December 17, 2020
Ezekiel 34:11-12, 16b
“‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness… I will shepherd the flock with justice.’”
Dear Friends,
I often approach God’s Word by asking myself, “How does this passage reveal the character of God?” Even this passage out of Ezekiel invites me to inspect/research/ponder who God is. I like to examine it from a distant place first and then dive closer and get deeper, all while discovering more about God’s character. I do this because I love God. But also because the more I know about the nature and character of God, the more I discover about the nature and character of myself since I am created in the image of God—Imago Dei. In my best state, I simply reflect God’s character as revealed through Scripture and Christ: just, loving, shepherding, nurturing, present, truthful, curious, kind. The Bible tells me who God is and I love knowing more about that.
I think some of you might read this passage from Ezekiel and find yourself nurtured, cared for, seen, and accepted because of it. You place yourself in the story of being shepherded and guided, laying down in green pasture, led beside quiet waters. This passage restores your soul. What a gift it is for you to read yourself into this story as your spirit weaves itself into these affectionate words.
I long to read my soul into God’s Word; a medicinal balm for weariness and tender affirmation of my personhood.
For me, this Covid-Advent has been a season of
stopping,
pausing,
resting
b e i n g.
I’ve found more opportunity for silence and solitude in my mornings instead of rushing through my devotional to get the kids off to school. Abraham Joshua Heschel writes, “It is easier to enjoy beauty than to sense the holy… To sense the presence of God in the Bible, one must learn to be present to God in the Bible.” Even with my lifelong pursuit of God, I’m still learning to be pursued by God. While I long to live in constant intimacy with the nearness of God, I’m still learning to be present to God’s nearness.
Anne Lamott once wrote, “There's a lovely Hasidic story of a rabbi who always told his people that if they studied the Torah, it would put Scripture on their hearts. One of them asked, ‘Why on our hearts, and not in them?’ The rabbi answered, ‘Only God can put Scripture inside. But reading sacred text can put it on your heart, and then when your hearts break, the holy words will fall inside.’”
Just as there are multiple ways we experience, give, and receive love with people (love languages), there are multiple ways we experience, give, and receive love from God. Celebrate the way God uniquely created you to give and receive love and keep pursuing these ways. But I also want to encourage you to dig deeper into those other longings; not simply learning about God’s character but learning to be present to God in the Bible. Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd to his disciples. As a sheep in Jesus’s pasture, how does Jesus view you? If Jesus were to describe you, what would he say?
I bet he would tenderly look at you with all the love in his eyes, gently pull you in real close, and tell you how glad he is that you’re his friend and how much he delights in your presence.
With (love),
Bethany