So I want to discuss a little more on my topic from last week—loving God.  As I read more of Mere Christianity, my exact question was actually addressed.  Lewis acknowledges that we are told we ought to love God, but many of us can’t find those feelings within us.  His response was that we should “act as if [we] did.  Do not sit trying to manufacture feelings.  Ask yourself, ‘If I were sure that I loved God, what would I do?’  When you have found the answer, go and do it.”  Our works are the best indicator of our love for Him, I think they are what matters most to Him.  And when we do His will, I think He will bless us with the ability to love more fully, as He does.

       I also loved Lewis’ words on the Atonement.  It is an amazing gift offered to all men, yet so many reject it for meaningless counterfeits of happiness.  When we honestly discover how helpless we are, that is when we can truly give our will to God and trust in His grace.  This brings up a problem for many though: if we stop trying, will we still be saved?  If we really can’t do anything to “earn” our salvation, is there a point in obeying God still?  To me, salvation is a state of eternal happiness where we can learn to become like God.  So why wouldn’t we still strive to obey Him?  It is the only way we can come closer to Him while still on this earth, and the closest we can come to true happiness in this life.  Of course the Atonement will make up for the rest if we allow it to, but why delay the process by wallowing in apathy?  Lewis gave beautiful insight into this topic:

       “To trust Him means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.”

       Grace is definitely important—it is what saves us.  But works are equally important because it is how we show our love for God.  Even if doing good to our neighbor or kneeling in prayer every night isn’t enough save us, it will bring us closer to God and bring a little Heaven into our lives.  A huge part of exaltation is gaining the ability to love as God does.  It is not a burden but a blessing.