When was the last time you looked someone in the eyes and found there no fault, no falsehood, no shadow? Instead, you found something true, unpretentious, free?
Love is just like that. It is powerful. It is being eye to eye, beholding the gaze of someone in such a genuine and true way. There is no caveat or concern, no hesitance or restraint. But today it can be hard to find such a purity and simplicity in our human relationships. We are cautious, trained to be careful to not give away too much. We put layers between ourselves and other people, and feel uncomfortable to really look into the eyes of another person — to be vulnerable. And yet that is exactly what love is: being owned and owning another person, fully, entirely, completely.
It is the same way with the Lord. He is not some distant God; neither is He someone we just pray to in a ritualistic or habitual way. He is a Person, and He desires to own us completely. Today, we have the privilege to turn and gaze at our dear Lord, to look at Him eye to eye. He is close to us; He is the One who “witnesses with our spirit” and “searches the hearts” in a life relationship with us (vv. 16; 27). In this love, we are vulnerable, yet secure. Nothing can separate us from His love, from Himself (v. 39; Eph. 5:25). To be able to be this true is a privilege; it is a freedom (Rom. 8:21). There’s nothing else to struggle for — turn and look at Him, hold back nothing, let Him own you today!
(Above are notes of fellowship taken from a gathering on 6/19/2024, not reviewed by the speaker.)