The Sound of Love

~~~ Hosea 14:2-10 ~~~ Psalm 81 ~~~ Mark 12:28-34 ~~~

Psalm ninety-five from yesterday
and today's psalm are connected to one another.

 If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Yesterday we are told that hearing
God's voice is a good beginning point.
If we are deaf to God's voice we
will be missing a huge part of living.

Being 'deaf' to the voice of God usually means
we value ourselves more than we should.
Perhaps we are under the impression that we
alone have our lives under control.

God's voice can seem distant and faint...
too much trouble...
Why bother to listen for God?

The next part of this verse goes deeper;
'harden not your hearts'.
Ouch! We are warned about the possible abyss
when we are not attentive to God's voice.
The longer we refuse to acknowledge his voice
the more rigid our heart becomes.

The more rigid our heart the more likely
we are to completely miss God's voice.

I cannot speak for others,
 but I want to hear his voice.
I would love nothing more than to close my eyes
 and hear the beautiful voice of God.
Of course if that ever happened it would
 be very frightening.

 I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.

It's odd that we must be reminded that God is God...
that he is who he claims to be...
He is our God.
The one who made us from nothing...
the one who loves us beyond measure...
the one who knows us from deep within our soul.

It is this God who must remind us
 to 'hear his voice'.

His voice is the voice
 of truth, justice, kindness,
mercy, forgiveness, and above all
his voice is the voice of Love.

God's voice must be the sound of Love.

God is love...
He created us out of this Love...
He calls us to live in this Love...
to be this Love.

The voice of God's Love
is given to us to share with our neighbors.

It is widely held that you can only give
of that which you possess.

We have been blessed
with this incredible gift of his Love.

It is in hearing God's voice that we can truly learn
 to love ourselves; because he loves us.

As we love our neighbors as ourselves
 it's really God's love that we are sharing.

God is love!
The love that we choose to share
comes to us through his great love for us.

You shall love the Lord your God 
with all your heart, 
with all your soul, 
with all your mind, 
and with all your strength.

How can this be difficult when we are literally
returning to God that which he has given to us?

I invite you to spend some time as soon as possible
contemplating how you return God's love back to himself.

Just maybe it is best measured
 in how you love others.

Lent is surely the perfect time
to reflect on God's love for you personally.

Every drop of blood he shed was
out of his love for us.

Surrounded by Blessings
~~~Peace~~~