Today’s Reading: 1 Chronicles 15, 16 & 17

Love does funny things to people. Even the biggest, meanest, hardest guy can turn to mush when he falls in love. Just look at David. This guy is fierce. He has made a name as a conquering warrior and has surrounded himself with other highly capable fighters. On top of that, he has established himself as a strong and steady leader – one to be respected and revered. He is an alpha-male of the highest order.

And yet, what happens to David when and his men return the ark to Israel? He starts signing and dancing and writing poetry! Now, to be sure, David probably did all of those things before this moment, but this was a public display – something unbecoming of a king in the eyes of some. The fierce warrior had turned to mush! David was in love.

But David’s love and devotion weren’t directed toward a woman, but instead, they were directed at his God. David loved God with the kind of passion that most of us reserve for someone of the opposite sex. He danced for God and wrote poems and songs for him. He had a depth of relationship with God that would allow him to ask difficult questions and receive difficult answers. But this wasn’t an abandonment of David’s “true self,” it was an embrace of his whole self.

David was a complex person and someone that I can really identify with. I’m a guy who enjoys a good football game and a good broadway musical. I get equally excited about a technological expo and a visit to the Grand Canyon. I find energy in creative writing and in working through Excel spreadsheets. I am multidimensional, and David lets me know that that’s OK.

When David exhibits his brand unbridled passion for God, it should serve as a reminder to us all that our deepest, strongest love and our greatest expressions of it should be reserved not for our spouse, our job or our favorite sports team, but for the God who made it all and rules over it all. Our God is worth getting giddy about. Our God love for him should turn us to mush. I don’t have to turn in my man card in order to love my God, but I may have to change my definition (or the definition given to me) of what a true man should be.