1 John 4:21
And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Last Saturday, I blew my daughter’s mind. I had finished my long run, Wendy was fixing a brunch that eventually became lunch, and we were both on the second pot of coffee. It was pretty typical eating conversation around the table and one by one we started to finish and leave. Soon, it was just me and Sydney, and we were both finishing the last of the pancakes. I had put butter and sugar on mine since we were low on maple syrup, and Sydney had gone with the cane syrup, which everyone in the family likes but me.
It’s important for you to know that Wendy absolutely LOVES cane syrup. I don’t. It’s way too thick, tastes funky and looks like motor oil, so it is out as a pancake topping in my book. So you can imagine the look on my face when Sydney held up a piece covered in the stuff and said, “Here.”
Now, I’ve eaten stuff that I wasn’t crazy about so that my children get the joy of seeing me try something they “fixed.” Shoot, just this week-end I gave my cup of peanut butter and chocolate ice cream from Baskin Robbins to Sydney and ate her cup of cotton candy ice cream because she ended up not liking what she’d gotten. I think I have a pretty good track record of taste-bud-denial, but you’ve got to make a stand somewhere, and for me, that line is pretty clearly seen in front of a bottle of cane syrup. So, in my best “Father Knows Best” voice, I said no to Sydney.
Here response took me by surprise. “But, it’s mom’s favorite.”
Ooh, I wasn’t expecting that. I tried the “give it to her straight approach.”
“Well, I know, honey. Mom loves that kind, but I don’t.”
“You love Mom, but you don’t love her syrup??” Sydney was obviously struggling to process this world-shaking revelation.
“That’s right,” I said. I watched her forehead crinkle a bit, and it took what felt like hours for her to finally come up with her response, and the only way she could make sense of it all was with 3 simple words:
“Well, that’s weird.”
The more I thought about it, the more I have to agree with her. It just makes sense that if we love someone, we’d love the things that they do, too. I do realize that that’s not going to happen here on earth. After all, there will be Michigan and Ohio State fans that marry, Republicans and Democrats, Devils and Tarheels. But think about this: on a supernatural level, on the level where a powerful and merciful God can change the heart of a man, it only makes sense that if we love God, we’d love the things He loves, too.
We would be all about mercy, and justice, and the redemption of mankind to His arms. We wouldn’t be able to get enough of His people, His presence, or His purposes. We would stop liking what He doesn’t, and start giving ourselves totally to what He’s committed to. To borrow a popular poker phrase, we’d be all in for the things of our Father.
It doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t come naturally. It takes time and commitment, but it is an amazing, transforming process, and in the end our hearts are one with our Father’s, and the world will no longer be able to look at the way we live our lives and respond with “well, that’s weird.”
And the best part? I still don’t have to eat cane syrup.
