The secret of life is to love the Lord our God, and our neighbors as ourselves. But how are we supposed to love the Lord? We cannot manufacture love. We cannot love on demand. We cannot order its appearance through an act of the will. No, love is not created in these ways. Love is a fruit, not a work. It grows in suitable soil, and it is our responsibility to prepare the soil. When the conditions are right, love appears, just as the crocus and the snowdrop appear in the new air of early spring.

What then can we do? We can seek the Lord’s company. We can think about Him. We can read about Him. We can fill our imaginations with the thoughts of the goodness of His life and service.

We can spend time with Him, talking with Him in prayer, singing to Him in praise, telling Him our longings, confessing to him our defeats. And love will be quietly born. For this is how love comes into being between two hearts. Two people spend time together, and love is born.

And when we spend our time with the Lord, we are with One who already loves us with an everlasting love. We are with One who longs for our love and who seeks in every way to win it. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4: 19). And when we truly love God, every other kind of holy love will follow. Given the fountain, the rivers are sure.

John Henry Jowett