"In Love"

I've been struggling a lot lately with the concept of being "in love with Christ." And I wonder if it's because I haven't found a way to see him more tangibly. I know, that sounds odd, but go with my logic for a sec:

The Bible tells us that:

"Greater love has no one than this:

to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." -John 15:13 (NIV)

And, quite honestly, if I were faced with the choice of dying or denying Christ, I would choose death. I could not deny Him who has given me eternal life...the one who has given me my family, my very breath. How could I possibly? So, in that sense, yes I suppose I love Christ.

But dying for a cause or person is one thing. What about living for one? I admit, I fail miserably at this. Some days, yes. Some days, far from it. And I can't seem to wrap my brain around this concept of loving God with every fiber of my being, as spelled out in Luke 10:

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ -Luke 10:27,(NIV)

Just being honest here. I love my children that way. But I'm not sure I love God that way. And I think it's because my chidlren are tangible. I can hold them. I can hug them. I can hear their sweet little voices, see their beautiful smiles. It's easy to love them, in fact. If God were more tangible to me, perhaps I could love Him as easily. Or maybe it's not supposed to be easy to love Him? Or is this some unattainable goal that we're supposed to strive for, but never achieve?

Or perhaps my concept of "love" is completely off-base? But I really struggle with how one can love God that deeply, when we cannot touch, see, hear or smell?

Is it possible to love Him with ALL of your heart, soul, mind and strength? If that's possible, I'd really like to get there. I'd love to have that kind of relationship with Him.