Life is a series of love relationships, yes, most definitely.

I love you mommy.

I love you daddy.

I love you brother and sister.

I love you grandma, grandpa (both mommy’s and daddy’s mommy & daddy).

I love you aunt and I love you uncle.

I love you cousin.

I love you friend.

I love you toy.

I love you……the love of my life.

I love you……child and child and child and child and child and child and child.

I love you……career decision.

I love you……life.

I love you……….We love so many, so much.

Love is such a deep desire within us, one we cannot help but express.

Last evening, we walked down the hundred stairs that lead from my daughter’s (and her husband’s) apartment in Wiesbaden to the street.  Then we walked down toward the center of the city to a place where we chose to eat dinner.  Last night, Japanese fare.  One price, seven rounds of choices.  “It is a marathon, not a sprint,” my son-in-law continued to remind us.

Round one…..choose up to five dishes.

Then round two…..choose up to five dishes.

Then round three….choose (you know, up to five dishes).

Then round four……choose five dishes.

Then round five……choose again….

Then, (oh, I am becoming so full) round six, filled with up to five dishes.

Then round seven…..yes, choose up to five dishes.

“It is a marathon, not a sprint,” my son-in-law continued to remind us.

We would never be filled during dinner if we only pretended to eat, if we play—ate during our seated time at the table.

No, food is too important to our lives.

So, we eat, often thinking and discussing (even while we are eating) where we will eat our next meal.

Our love of God is a marathon………A love affair that will last throughout eternity.

Our love for our Savior and for our God………A long-lasting love affair and not a rush to love and to then live the rest of our days alone, apart from God.

Thankfully, during our life journey, we meet God.

Maybe a Sunday School teacher introduces us to God…..OR

Maybe a VBS teacher introduces us to God…..OR

Maybe our parents introduce us (our mom does or our dad shares) to God…..OR

Maybe a preacher introduces us to God….OR

Maybe a missionary introduces us to God…..OR

Maybe a friend introduces us to God.

Somewhere, Sometime, Some place (during our lives)……we meet God.

When we do, meet God…….That is when we begin to understand REAL LOVE,  GOD’S LOVE & OUR LIMITED PERCEPTION of how we really love……compared to how deeply GOD LOVES.

I met God when I was a child living in Indiana, and even though I met him early in life, I did not accept God’s offer of love until some fifteen years later.

Finally, I gave to God my heart.

Until that moment, I did not understand the depth of God’s love.

I thought I knew how to love, but I was only pretending to love.

It was then, at that moment of my BELIEF in God, at that moment of my ACCEPTANCE of God, and at that moment of my CONFESSION…..Then I knew God’s covering, God’s forgiveness.

Until THEN, I was only pretending to love.

Pretending to Love……that is a way of life, one we live.

Even us (those who believe and profess to be God’s) sometimes find ourselves caught in the pretense of earthly types of love…..&

When we do, it is then that we should turn away from what we are loving within this world, and return back to God, repenting of that which we thought was more important to love than God.

What do we love……MORE THAN GOD?

Who do we love……MORE THAN GOD?

When shall we love……AS GOD TEACHES US TO LOVE?

How should we display our love……FOR GOD TO OTHERS?

Where are we called to love……OTHERS, AS GOD REVEALS THEM TO US?

Why must we love……GOD MOST?

We are to love God’s Word……daily……moment by moment, internalizing God’s Word deep within, carrying it within our hearts so that if we (like Corrie Ten Boom) are called to share God’s Word with others, then, we will have God’s Word so deeply stored within us that (His Word) will sustain us, even then, within the torment and turmoil of life.

We are to love God…….now……moment by moment, believing beyond a solitary shadow that it is God who holds our lives, our breaths, our hearts within His hands.

It is God who decides where we will go, what we will become, how we will do, and when we will be……….here.

We are to love Jesus………every second……..this moment, knowing that to love God MORE THAN ANYTHING is all that we are ever asked to do.

It is then (within God’s love) that we begin to see others as God sees them;

It is then (within God’s love) that we start to understand this world (as we live) as God does; and

It is then (within God’s love) that we can begin to see our lives (while we are here on earth) as God does.

God does not pretend to love us.

Let us repeat…..God does not pretend to love us!!!

We know this to be true because God loves us so much that He sent His Only Son Jesus, (a most holy part of Himself) to us……to redeem and to save us.

In the Bible, we find God’s truth concerning His love.  The apostle Paul writes to young Timothy about God’s love, and about our pretense.

“If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; …

But godliness actually is a means of great gain which accompanied by contentment.

For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. …

But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love; perseverance and gentleness.

Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

(1 Timothy 6: 3-12)

Let us feast upon God.

Let us not pretend any longer.

Let us set our eternal hope upon God.

Let us not pretend any longer.

Let us take hold of God’s best life right now…..today.

Let us not pretend to love any longer.

Let us Stop Pretending………Right Now at this very moment.

Let us turn our faces and our hearts toward God.