I Love You This Much!

My Grandmother Effie & Sister Midge

My grandmother’s name was Effie Merritt.  She was (by far) the most Godly woman I have ever known, and instilled in me the importance of following Jesus from a very early age.


My sister and I used to spend the night with her all of the time.  On any given Friday or Saturday night, you would find us sitting at the foot of her chair (next to the heater), watching her favorite entertainer on television, Lawrence Welch.  We would talk up a storm with her about all kinds of things, and she would laugh at us.  I really enjoyed that part of my life and miss her very much.


One of our favorite games that we used to play was “How much do you love me?"  Every time I was around her, she would always ask us “How much do you love me?”  Without fail, we would hold up our thumb and index finger as is we were holding an eyelash between them and reply “This much!”  She would act as if she was crying or mad because we had just shown her that we just barely loved her. We would burst out laughing.  She would look at us, stretch her arms far apart and tell us “I love you this much!”  This would always end up in a big hug for our Ma-Ma!


I haven’t thought about that game in a long time until I met a friend of mine for lunch a few weeks ago.  We were sharing with each other what God is doing in our lives, and he mentioned that He was being challenged by the Holy Spirit.  God was asking Him “How much do you love me?” 


Are you kidding me?  This guy is a Godly man.  His testimony is rock-solid.  This intrigued me, so I asked him to explain himself.


He replied “Do I really love God more than my wife?  More than my child?  If I lost my house, would I love God more the next day than I did before?”


That hammered me.  Now I was asking myself the same thing.  My honest answer was beginning to scare me.


Deuteronomy 6:5 lays out for the people of Israel one of the hardest laws ever handed down by God.  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”  In and of itself, that is a tall order.


In Matthew 22, we see Jesus step it up another notch.  The Pharisees saw the Sadducees strike out when they were trying to trip Jesus up, so they decided to step up to the plate.  They asked Him “Teacher, what is the greatest commandment?”
Jesus, knowing their wicked hearts replied “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.   And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
In other words, Jesus was saying “If you are going to try and work your way to heaven, try this on for size!”  It’s an impossible task on your own. 


This brings me back to my original conversation with my friend.  God is asking us as Christians to play the game “How much do you love me?”


As I examine myself, my answer is changing day by day.  I truly feel I am heading in the right direction, but have a long way to go.  As hard as it is to admit, my love has all kinds of conditions.  Would I love the Lord if He took my wife or children away from me (or both)?  Would I love Him more than anything if He took my job, my friends, my house?  As I grow in Christ, I pray that God changes me into the man that loves Him no matter what.