Loving God

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up." - Deuteronomy 6:5-7

"Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul." - Joshua 22:5

"But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And He said to him, " 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." -Matthew 22:34-40

Wow.... what a topic to deal with! Loving God! How do you love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind??? There are many, more qualified, people who could explain the idea of loving God... and yet, it's laid out in the scriptures everywhere!

Jesus said that it was the foremost commandment, that we should love God. If we take a look at how Christ lived His life here on earth I think we can get a pretty vivid picture of what loving God with all of ourselves looks like. I mean, seriously, who else could better personify a love of God than God in flesh? If we simply read through the Gospels and take a look at how Jesus lived His life, we can find what it means to love God in all that we say and do.

Also, take a look at the life of David... he was considered a man after God's own heart! It doesn't mean that he didn't mess things up every once in a while, but he was repentant and loved to please God in all that he did. You see the heart of David exposed in the Psalms. Oh, I love to read the Psalms just so I can know that, even such a long time ago, people used to struggle with their love for God and they would cry out and beg God to show Himself strong on their behalf.

Do we still do that today? Or is it just too humbling to admit that we don't truly know how to love God? Answer yourself, honestly, this question... Do you feel that it is below you to humble yourself and cry out to God to reveal Himself to you? Is there just too much pride in your life for you to admit such a need? Are you afraid of who might be watching? THAT'S WHAT LOVING GOD IS ALL ABOUT!!!
If you loved a person so much that you just couldn't stand it, would you care what other people thought about the way that you expressed that love? Or would you show your genuine affection no matter what other people might think? I've seen couples who were lost within each other's gaze... there is no concern for whether or not the world around them disapproves. This should be the same in our relationship with God... we should say, "God, I love You and I don't care what it looks like to others. I'm gonna keep loving You, I want to humble myself before You and I ask that You would teach me what it means to love You with all of my heart, soul and mind. Father, I admit that I don't know how, but I know that You are faithful to reveal yourself, a loving God, through Your Word."

This is exactly what Jesus talked about when He said, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8)
If you look back at what Jesus said in chapter 6 about "...where your treasure is, there your heart will be also..." then you understand that He's not talking about all of the health and wealth preaching that is so common today. "God wants YOU to have that new car, God wants YOU to be happy!" THAT IS NOT WHAT THIS VERSE IS TALKING ABOUT!!! If you have a need, then please, ask of God and see that He is faithful to provide what you NEED. But what this verse is saying is that we should ask of our Father to show us His mercy, to show us His grace, and to reveal Himself to us in such a way that we're just completely saturated in our love for Him.
Seek God and Christ says that you will find Him... "I love those who love me; and those who diligently seek me will find me." (Proverbs 8:17) "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:33)
Knock and He says that the door will be opened to you! When you come eagerly to the door of God's love you will not be turned away! Come with a humble heart that says, "God, I want to know You more! I want to understand how to love You with everything that is within me!"

I would encourage you to ask, to seek, and to knock... Please pray that God would show you how to love Him! Loving God is essential before we can love anyone else. Otherwise we've got it all wrong!
I hope these words have blessed and challenged you as much as they have me! Until next time...

Grace and Peace!