The Simple and Humble Thing - Part II
Kierkegaard said that "The simple and humble thing is to love God because you need him."
I think this is true, and explained a little of the reason why in my previous post. It seems to me that the basic response of love for Jesus that occurs at the moment a person becomes a follower of Jesus is simply because they have realized that they need Jesus. One does not become a follower of someone if they have no need of that person or what that person can provide. So, being a follower of Jesus firstly involves a simple and humble realization that one desperately needs Christ. And out of this flows a love for this wonderful person who is able to so completely meet that need as no one else can.
Those who came to Jesus because they needed him were never turned away, the same has always been true for God. How else could Jesus say "I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me shall never hunger, and the one who believes in me shall never thirst"? Food and drink are our most basic needs, without them we expire very quickly. Jesus claimed that he is the great need-meeter, the abundant food-provider, the real and lasting thirst-quencher. And we love him for it. After Jesus spoke those words, a great many of his followers decided that Jesus was a lost cause, yet when he asked his closest companions about whether they would leave too, Peter spoke for the group and said: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe that you are the Christ, the son of the living God." (Jn. 6:67-69).
So recognition of our greatest need, and of the one who alone is able to meet that greatest need completely, is the start of our relationship with the need-fulfiller. And the natural outcome of such a beginning is love for that person. Without love, there is something seriously amiss. To encounter grace and not feel gratitude is to misunderstand one's great need, and to take for granted the provision of that need. No, this would not be right at all. The correct response is gratitude, and love, for the one who has delivered us from the crushing weight of our need, since he alone could do it, and he alone chose to do it.
Yet I think there is more to this than Kierkegaard's assertion that need alone is necessary and sufficient for our love. He said:
No, you should understand that your life's welfare eternally depends on your need, and for this reason and this reason alone you should love him.
This is where I think we need to dig a little deeper. Is there more that could be said?
I think this is true, and explained a little of the reason why in my previous post. It seems to me that the basic response of love for Jesus that occurs at the moment a person becomes a follower of Jesus is simply because they have realized that they need Jesus. One does not become a follower of someone if they have no need of that person or what that person can provide. So, being a follower of Jesus firstly involves a simple and humble realization that one desperately needs Christ. And out of this flows a love for this wonderful person who is able to so completely meet that need as no one else can.
Those who came to Jesus because they needed him were never turned away, the same has always been true for God. How else could Jesus say "I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me shall never hunger, and the one who believes in me shall never thirst"? Food and drink are our most basic needs, without them we expire very quickly. Jesus claimed that he is the great need-meeter, the abundant food-provider, the real and lasting thirst-quencher. And we love him for it. After Jesus spoke those words, a great many of his followers decided that Jesus was a lost cause, yet when he asked his closest companions about whether they would leave too, Peter spoke for the group and said: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe that you are the Christ, the son of the living God." (Jn. 6:67-69).
So recognition of our greatest need, and of the one who alone is able to meet that greatest need completely, is the start of our relationship with the need-fulfiller. And the natural outcome of such a beginning is love for that person. Without love, there is something seriously amiss. To encounter grace and not feel gratitude is to misunderstand one's great need, and to take for granted the provision of that need. No, this would not be right at all. The correct response is gratitude, and love, for the one who has delivered us from the crushing weight of our need, since he alone could do it, and he alone chose to do it.
Yet I think there is more to this than Kierkegaard's assertion that need alone is necessary and sufficient for our love. He said:
No, you should understand that your life's welfare eternally depends on your need, and for this reason and this reason alone you should love him.
This is where I think we need to dig a little deeper. Is there more that could be said?
posted by Paul at 12/16/2005 04:53:00 AM
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