Israel: The Key to Intimacy with God: "Love What He loves"

Why is it important for us as believers in Jesus to love the Jewish people? In one phrase: Because God loves when we love what he loves.

When you love somebody, you begin to share interest with them. I can’t tell you the amount of TV shows I’ve watched with my wife that I would’ve never watched on my own. But I’m watching them because I love her. Many friendships begin when you realize you both love the same thing, the same sport, the same music, the same TV shows –  and God loves the Jewish people. And if we want to be connected to his heart, then we should love what he loves.

Now, obviously, God loves all people. The most famous Bible verse in the world, John 3:16: For God so loved the world – he loves everyone. But God’s plan to save the whole world was to go through his chosen people, the Jewish people. In Genesis 12:2 God tells Abraham, I’m going to make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great and you shall be a blessing. And then at the end of the verse it says, and in you all families of the earth shall be blessed. God’s plan was always to go to the whole earth. And in Deuteronomy 7:6 God reminds Moses the Lord your God has chosen you to be a personal possession out of all the people who are on the face of the earth. Even after Jesus made a way for all people to come into the family of God, he still has a special place in his heart for them.

In Romans 11:28, God says, they are my beloved. Not they were his beloved or they used to be his beloved, but present tense. They are his beloved. And if they are his beloved and we want to be close to God’s heart, then one of the things that we can choose to do is we can choose to start loving what God loves, and God loves the Jewish people. And God loves when we love what he loves.