Love the LORD

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 ~ "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

The great declaration of the people of God is love for the Almighty. And that love is more than a sentimental desire or a sympathetic connection, it is an all-consuming affection for the LORD. Set up your life to this plumb line of detection (see Amos 7:7) from God's word and see where you might be off the mark. But before we go into this text for today, I want to assure you that no one has ever loved God to the level that He deserves or to the fullness of perfection.

We must begin with what we desire--for the LORD judges the heart. Do you want to love the LORD? Is there something within you that has a longing for His Name to be held in honor, to be glorified and exalted through your life? Is it within you to pursue Him with all that you can? And though you might not be able to run with the swiftest, will you crawl if that is all you can do? Your "all" is not the same as anyone else's "all." Do not sit in comparison against another, it is your heart, soul and strength--unmeasured against anyone else.

We begin with your heart. At the point of salvation, the LORD has taken from you a heart that is dead and replaced it with one that is alive. God says in Ezekiel 36:26, "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." The heart, in our text today, is the seat of our mind, will and emotions. And, so, do you love the LORD your God with how you think, and what you think? Do you love Him with the driving determinations that you hold? And, do you love Him with total and dominating affections, with passion? Many see the "heart" only as the place of emotion. But there is far more involved when you love the LORD with all your heart. And the delightful thing of the heart, is that it will expand with exercise. Your mind will grow as you study and consider the things of Christ. Your driving determination will strengthen as you walk with Christ. And your affections will increase the more you know of Christ. 

We continue with your soul. What does it mean that we must love the LORD our God with all our soul? The soul is the very core element of who you are. The soul is your very self--your character and nature. And we are to love God with our character. The problem before we know Jesus as LORD is to have our souls darkened with death. But, just as God gives us a new heart at salvation, so the LORD breathes life into our dead soul. We see in the book of Acts that upon belief, there was added to the kingdom 3000 souls. "So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls" (Acts 2:41). And, can your "soul" increase? Unlike a muscle, it does not grow larger, but it will improve in character. Consider a mirror as an example. Unpolished, it is challenged to reflect any visage. But continually polish it, improve its nature, and it will begin to reflect with clarity. So God is "polishing" your soul, improving your character and changing your nature so that you will bear a right reflection of Him.

We conclude with your might. How do we love the LORD our God with all our might (or strength)? The term "might" means force or "muchness" of our ability. As you consider what it means to love with "all" of something, this would mean that we will love the LORD unto physical exhaustion. There are levels of weariness that prevents us from going forward with projects and tasks. And times of rest are precious, for Ecclesiastes 5:12, "Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep." But that blessed sleep goes to the laborer, not to the lazy. In fact, the sluggard is condemned in Proverbs (see Proverbs 21:25). Dear ones, not everyone has the same level of strength to offer the LORD. But to love the LORD with all our might is to give all that we can. 

So, let us declare our love for the LORD in every aspect of our lives, growing and strengthening and improving along the way that we should love Him even more.

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

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