Torah — The Love Language of God

We should talk.  I know you’d like to talk about King Charles auditioning for the role of the Antichrist or when the great tribulation will start (or end) or if Trump will ever Make the Kingdom Great Again. And while those topics are important trending and interesting, we’re wearing ourselves out talking about people and events we can’t change. Maybe we should talk about something that can profoundly change us forever:

       Torah.

I know, it’s not a popular topic, in part because many can’t see this beautiful forest for the trees; it is hidden in plain sight.  Ask your friends about Torah and you’ll get all kinds of answers:

• Torah? What?
• Yeah, Torah, Torah, Torah. Great movie.
• It’s the first five books of the Bible.
• Jewish laws and lots of them. Right?
• The Jewish laws that Jesus perfectly fulfilled, setting us free from having to do them ourselves.

Let me suggest, however, that Torah is far more than we can begin to imagine.  In fact, it is the second greatest opportunity ever made available to mankind, second only to the opportunity for eternal life.  Why?  Because Torah holds critical keys for our life here on this planet and our future life in heaven.  Take another look at just a couple of the keys:  one for heaven, and one for life on Earth.

First, quite selfishly, Torah unlocks all the premium thrill levels in heaven.  Do you think your experience in heaven is going to be the same as Abraham? Moses? David?  Peter, James or John?  Me neither.  Mighty men and women of faith may see, hear and enjoy heaven in ways I won’t even know exist.  This is no bueno.  Making sure we get to heaven is the most important issue of all time. Without question.  But then what?

Jesus told us the then what and how it works right out of the gate.  Here is Jesus explaining promotions and benefits in heaven:

… whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:19

Seriously, who would say, ‘Least in the Kingdom is fine with me.  I don’t need to be great.’?  No one that’s being honest.  Is Jesus saying I have to keep Torah perfectly?  No, He isn’t.  Is He saying if I don’t keep the commandments my eternal destiny hangs in the balance?  No, He isn’t.  Am I a special kind of st*pid if I don’t do everything I can to follow Torah?  Yes, I am.

The second critical key is a bomb Jesus dropped in a conversation with a Jewish troll lawyer:

Lawyer:  Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?
Jesus: And He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the great and foremost commandment.  The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22:36-40

Is Jesus saying that loving God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind is, in a nutshell, following Torah?  Yes.  He is.

Torah is God’s love language.

If you really love someone, why wouldn’t you love them in the way they want to be loved? in their love language?  You would think that would be perfectly obvious, but not to the guy who gives his wife a handy 12-volt Sawzall for her birthday.  And, full disclosure, I’ve done that, we’ve all done that, at one time or another.  No one loves perfectly. 

If you really love someone, it’s not that you’re required to love them the way they want to be loved, you have the honor and the privilege of loving them the way they want to be loved.

If you are at all like me, you don’t want to miss anything in heaven. Even more, when you are face to face with our God, you want to tell Him that you love Him with all your heart, soul, and mind.  You want to tell Him that you believe in His Son and live by His Torah.

You want to hear, ‘Well done.’