Being a follower of Jesus we should have emotional affection for Jesus. Look at all the people you deeply love, there is an emotional affection for each of them. It should not be any different for Jesus, matter of fact it should be more because nobody else ever took you sin to the cross because they loved you!
For years I have gotten in the pulpit to bring a message of God or gone to a bible study to teach and look out to the brothers and sisters of the faith and the looks on some the faces are heartbreaking. You would think they were in a prison somewhere. Worship of our King should bring great joy and move us emotionally!
Read what the great preacher Jonathan Edwards said in his book Religious Affections:
Our external delights, our ambition and reputation, and our human relationships--- for all these things our desires are eager, our appetites strong, our love warm and affectionate, our zeal ardent. Our hearts are tender and sensitive when it comes to these things, easily moved, deeply impressed, much concerned, and greatly engaged. We are depressed at our losses and excited and joyful about our worldly successes and prosperity. But when it comes to spiritual matters, how dull we feel! How heavy and hard our hearts! We can sit and hear the infinite height, and depth, and length, and breadth of the love of God in Christ Jesus, of Hi giving his infinitely dear Son---and yet be cold and unmoved!!! If we are going to be emotional about anything, shouldn't it be our spiritual lives?
Wow, how true, how true!
Just look to the Psalms to see all kinds of emotion and affection for God:
Psalm 33
Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful.2 Praise the Lord with the harp;Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.3 Sing to Him a new song;Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
4 For the word of the Lord is right,And all His work is done in truth.5 He loves righteousness and justice;The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;He lays up the deep in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.9 For He spoke, and it was done;He commanded, and it stood fast.
10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever,The plans of His heart to all generations.12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.
13 The Lord looks from heaven;He sees all the sons of men.14 From the place of His dwelling He looksOn all the inhabitants of the earth;15 He fashions their hearts individually;He considers all their works.
16 No king is saved by the multitude of an army;A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.17 A horse is a vain hope for safety;Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.
18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,On those who hope in His mercy,19 To deliver their soul from death,And to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the Lord;He is our help and our shield.21 For our heart shall rejoice in Him,Because we have trusted in His holy name.22 Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,Just as we hope in You.
Let me also say we have to be careful not to think emotion is our faith, it is a result of our faith and love for God! So let us be joyful in the Lord! Be moved by His grace, mercy, and love for there is nothing greater! Rejoice in the Lord!
Tom
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