The Heart Behind it All

Every night, before he goes to bed, my 2 year-old son Caleb tells me he loves me. Sometimes it is in response to me telling him the same, and then still other times he beats me to the punch. Tonight, after we put him down, I wondered if he knows what he is saying. Does he realize he is expressing love for me, or is it just merely a learned response to my, "I love you?" Sure, It is adorable when he tells me, and it makes me smile, but does he mean it?

You see, deep down I long for the day when he tells me because he absolutely means it. The day when he understands the gravity of the statement and looks at me as his father and expresses his love for me. Sure the mimicked, learned response is cute, but in the end I don't want just a learned response, I want the heart that goes with it.

I can't help to think that God feels the same way I do when he looks at us, his children. He doesn't merely want us to tell Him we love Him, or sing songs that express our love to Him, or pray flowery prayers of deep affection. We can learn how to say we love God, and we can easily sing syllables and a melody that construct a song, but do we mean it? When we sing do we really think about the words we are saying, and the gravity of them? When we pray, do we pray from the heart, or is it just glorified mimicry of prayers we heard others pray? And when we say we love God do our hearts match our words?

I believe that God longs for the day when we mean it, when our heart lines up with our words. Sure it is cute when we learn to mimic, and it may even make Him smile, but God longs for the day when we absolutely mean it. The day when we understand the gravity of the statement, and look to Him as our Father, as our God, and express our deep love for him. He doesn't just want a learned response, but rather, the heart that goes with it.