I remember being a young man in grade school (and all the way through high school if we are honest), making doodles and drawings all over my schoolwork. I would try to do the assignment, but if I struggled or got bored, I would often start drawing little cartoons or images I would see on album covers or other places in popular culture on the pages instead of the work assigned. Maybe I did it in hopes that I would receive a passing grade thanks to the amusement created by my drawings, or maybe I just didn’t care enough about school to begin with. At that time when you looked at my drawings you usually had to ask what you were looking at, but after years of practice I can proudly say that you can usually tell what my drawings are supposed to be.

The point is that when I started drawing as a young man, my drawings were as unrecognizable as any other child’s. I didn’t receive any special training or instruction, I didn’t have any kind of God given ability that I could discern (we all have natural talents given to us by God, but we are still responsible for developing those talents), I simply enjoyed putting the pencils to paper, and that made all the difference. I wanted to be an excellent artist, I wanted to be able to grow up and someday draw comic books and I knew that it would require practice, but I would never practice if I didn’t enjoy it, if I didn’t enjoy the craft itself, I would never have gained knowledge or continued to learn. I didn’t just love what the craft would lead to, I loved the craft itself.

So many will be introduced to something new, like a hobby, and they will be infatuated or in love with the results of the hobby but not the hobby itself. We see the guitar players on stage playing solos and cranking out awesome music, but when we pick up the guitar and don’t know anything we realize we don’t love the guitar itself. We see the custom woodworking and the artistry involved, but when we pick up the wood and tools, we realize we don’t love the work itself. Too often we can see those same attitudes with our faith. We love the idea of what Jesus can do in our lives, we love the idea of answered prayers, but our love for Jesus Himself is not there.

Many of us know someone in our lives that is very spiritual and has a close connection with Jesus, we see what Jesus does for them in their lives and we see the amazing transformations that have gone on with them and we want some of it ourselves. What we see is a relationship, not just a knowledge of Him, but an active and vibrant relationship. The important part to understand is a relationship will not thrive and grow until the foundation is secure, which is love for the other person in the relationship themselves. Not what they can do for us or even what they’ve done, but for who they are.

My wife once took me to see the Bible Museum in Washington D.C. It was about a four-hour drive, and for someone who never really left his hometown for more than a handful of times, it was quite an adventure for me. We spent the day in D.C. not just at the museum but also at the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Memorial, and whatever else we could pack into the day, creating a real foundation for the beginning of our relationship. More than any of those destinations, however, I remember most laughing with my wife, being with her, talking to her in the long car ride. It wasn’t the trip I remember loving; it was her.

If we ever want to have a thriving relationship with Jesus, then Jesus must be the foundation. We first must love Him before we reach any kind of destination, before we see any kind of results. Jesus is kind, Jesus is trustworthy, Jesus is loyal and faithful, He doesn’t need to do anything for us to love Him for these qualities. Let’s build a firm foundation on which we will love Him first, before anything else.