Beyond Measure

Roy Edgemon and Barry Sneed, writing in Jesus by Heart, get right to the point: “A popular song asks a question that deserves an answer: ‘What’s love got to do with it?’ For the Christian, the answer is absolutely everything. Love is the root command of the entire Bible. It is the central characteristic of God. And it must be your central characteristic if you are to love others as Jesus loves you.” 

When God looks at us, He looks not with His eyes but with His heart, with eyes of love. God does not look at us as much as in us. God is not interested in our appearance. God looks at our heart. God alone knows every human heart and searches every heart.

We often tend to think of “heart” only in individual terms, but in scripture, there is nearly always a community aspect to the concept of heart. Nearly all of the Old Testament passages cited above are actually addressed to the community of God’s people, not just to the individuals. In fact, in Jeremiah, God promises to be with His people in covenant relationship and to give them one heart.

This community aspect is present in the New Testament as well. Paul was praying both for the individuals in the church at Ephesus and for the church as the community of believers. In the record of the life of the early church in the Book of Acts, we find that “the multitude of those who believed were of one heart.”

The choice is now before you, to live together in relationship with God both as individuals and as a church – with one heart. Are you ready for the adventure?