Exodus, Chapter 20, Verse 18-20
Now as all the people witnessed the thunder
and lightning, the blast of the shofar and the mountain smoking, they became
afraid and trembled. So
they took up a position farther away and
said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak
to us, or we shall die.” Moses answered the people, “Do
not be afraid, for God has come only
to test you and put the fear of him
upon you so you do not sin.”
The Israelite's were afraid
and preferred to have Moses mediate for them with God rather than having a real
relationship with God.
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| http://www.ccel.org/ccel/bernard/loving_god.i.html |
What is love? In his
text On Loving God, St. Bernard surveys the four types of love that
Christians experience as they grow in their relationship with God: loving one's
self, selfish love, loving God as God, and loving one's self in God. St. Bernard
reminds us that not only did God give us life, but He gave us Himself. For
indeed, "God deserves to be loved very much, yea, boundlessly, because He
loved us first, He infinite and we nothing, loved us, miserable sinners, with a
love so great and so free." St. Bernard reminds us that we are indebted to
God for his love and His sacrifice. Not only should we love God because it is
what He deserves, but also because loving God does not go without reward.
Loving God is to our advantage. The Lord rewards those who love Him with the
blessed state of the heavenly Fatherland, where sorrow and sadness cannot
enter. St. Bernard's medieval prose is poetic and full of clever imagery. His
work is as beautiful as it is knowledgeable.
Emmalon Davis
CCEL Staff Writer
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