Does God Really Like Us?

Yahveh is selfish? Okay, that is not quite what I meant. What I meant was that Yahveh desires something from us, there is something that Yahveh wants from us. This too, is a pretty bold statement. What could Yahveh possibly want from us? Isn't he the infinite Almighty? Doesn't he have everything already? You know, cattle on a thousand hills, right? Is there actually something that we could give Yahveh, something that Yahveh desires from us?
When one really understands what like actually is, to say that Yahveh likes us is a rather intense claim. It is to claim that there is something that Yahveh doesn't have, something that we could give Yahveh that would bring him joy and pleasure. At first, such a claim flies in the face of an infinite, almighty Yahveh. It seems to reduce Yahveh to this dependant being with superpowers.
Yet there is something that we possess that Yahveh doesn't have and that Yahveh wants. This doesn't actually lessen the majesty of Yahveh, if anything it enhances it. What Yahveh wants is us; you, me, the guy sitting next to you, every single one of us. He wants the human race as a whole and he wants you as an individual. Yahveh desperately wants you to want him, he wants your friendship. Let me say that again; Yahveh wants your friendship, to be your friend.
However, Yahveh doesn't necessarily have that. This is because Yahveh has left it up to you and me to choose him. He has chosen us to be his friends, his companions, but he wants us to choose him back. This is what it means that Yahveh likes us. Screwed up as we are, Yahveh enjoys our companionship and desires that. There is something about us that he enjoys being in relationship with. Yet Yahveh does not, indeed cannot, force us to give that to him. Only if we give it to him of our own choice does he receive what he desires.
So often we focus on the fact that Yahveh loves us, which is both true and appropriate. But it is also obvious. I mean, he created an amazing and perfect world for us to take care. We dropped the ball on that one. But instead of simply abandoning us to our fate, as he had every right to do, Yahveh chose to send Jesus to die for our sins, to give up the majesty of heaven to suffer and die for people who had turned their backs on him. Even today, he continually gives and gives selflessly for our benefit. Yahveh most certainly loves in ways that we cannot possibly fathom.
But it is so much more than Yahveh just giving to us. There is a dimension to Yahveh that actually likes us, that wants us to give something back. Yahveh desires us to be his friends, to live in relationship with him, to be with him. That is what is meant by Yahveh likes us, because he does. There is something we can give Yahveh; our friendship and ourselves.
(Psalms 50:10)