\Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?\  Jesus replied,
\Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your mind.
 This is the first and greatest commandment.\  (Matt 22:37-38 NIV)

Why did God create us?
Before we discuss our love for God, it is important to first look at His love for us.  (\This is love:  not that we loved God, but that He loved us...\ 1 John 4:10) 

God\'s motivation for creating us and reaching out to us is perfectly demonstrated in what Jesus says is the greatest of all commandments:  \to love God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your mind.\  Why did the Lord create us in the first place?  Why did He reach down to us?  What does God really desire from us?  What else could we give the Creator that He did not already have with the rest of creation?  Just one thing:  a relationship of love. 

The prominence of love and heart
God is not just satisfied with repeated external obedience to his commands with our hearts and minds detached from it. (\These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  They worship me in vain...\ Mark 7:6,7 NIV).  Jesus explained it this to the woman at the well: \God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.\ (John 4:24) In other words, because God is a spirit, He cares that our spirit is connected to what we do.

By the inspiration of God, the Apostle Paul goes so far to say,  \If I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing...if I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.\  (1 Corinthians 13:2,3 NIV)   Wow!  What do you think?  Does God really care about how engaged we are with our hearts and minds?  There should be no doubt. 

Pleasing our Creator is all about being in a personal relationship with Him.  Did you catch it when He says we are nothing with just heartless obedience--even if it is driven by mountain-moving faith?   We gain nothing with agonizing sacrifice, no matter how great, if our hearts are not behind it.

Jesus said basically the same thing in a slightly different way:  \\'Many will say to me on that day, \Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy...drive out demons...perform many miracles?\'  Then I will tell them plainly, \'I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers\' \ (Matt 5:22, 23)  The biggest issue to the Lord is knowing him, not just doing religious things.  Knowing God is what it is all about. He created us with the heart and the capacity to love Him. 

Since He created us with the freedom to obey or disobey, it is clear that God desires us to be far more than just mere robots that just mechanically do what they are told.  What other reason could there be for creating us with such a freedom?   This is the only logical conclusion.  Robots cannot love because robots do not have freedom of will. 

If true, then are the commands still important?
You may wonder: since He created us with this freedom to obey or disobey, does God still expect obedience?  Of course he does.  Moses gave God\'s people the 10 commandments, not the 10 suggestions.  We cannot separate loving God from obedience:  (\This is love for God:  to obey His commands.  And His commands are not burdensome....\ 1 John 5:3) 

But those commands do not seem nearly as difficult when we have in the forefront how much God loves us.  When we remain grateful for God\'s many blessings and keep in our minds that it is the relationship that means the most to Him, then we view his commands as specific ways that we are able to show Him our love and please him. 

When you really love someone, what is your greatest desire?  Is it not to please them?  You try to learn as much you can about their likes and dislikes.  \...a married man is concerned about...how he can please his wife.\  (1 Cor 7:33)   The same should be true in a committed relationship with God: you make it your goal to please Him.  \So we make it our goal to please Him...\  (2 Cor 5:9)   Your perspective of His commands change; they are no longer \have to\'s\ that you begrudgingly obey, but \want to\'s\ that you eagerly do.  You study and learn as much as you can about what please Him.  \Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living.  Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.\  (2 Cor 4:1)

What if the feeling for God comes and goes?