God Above All
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might”
Moses, recorded in, Deuteronomy 6:5 esvbible.org
All in!
In our love for God there must be nothing held back.
No exceptions.
No exclusions.
All of heart, soul and might, which means all of our mind.
And yet, we, the followers of Jesus, let, allow, and/or make so many other things to become more important in our lives.
Jesus warned us about three of the most common: money, family and power.
“‘No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.’”
(Matthew 6:24)
“And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, ‘Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.’ And he answered them, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.’” (Mark 3:31–35)
“But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’” (Matthew 20:25–28)
There are a few others we might include, with self being at the top of the list.
We worship what we love.
We worship what we serve.
What does it mean to love God, with nothing held back?
1. Loving God means conviction.
The Holy Spirit indwells us and instills in us the conviction that God is God, and we are not. He is Lord above all, and we worship and serve Him and Him only.
2. Loving God means conversion.
We are unable to love God in the way we are commanded until we have been converted, in the Bible’s terminology, from sinner to saint, a transformation which always begins with conviction.
3. Loving God means change.
We will always struggle with our old nature, our former ways, but, by God’s mercy and grace we will grow and change, and, using the gifts of the Spirit we will begin to manifest the fruit of the Spirit.
4. Loving God means calling.
We are called by His grace into an eternal relationship with Him.
“And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (Romans 8:30)
5. Loving God means challenge.
To love God means we obey God above all other powers and authorities and relationships, and this will often mean some kind of challenge to our convictions and integrity. Remember those early days for the apostles, when challenged to stop preaching?
“But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’” (Acts 5:29)
6. Loving God means commitment.
We have been called, empowered and sent by God to be ambassadors for Christ, to be His witnesses. We will not carry out our calling, we will not fulfil our calling, unless we love God with all our heart, and strength, and soul and mind.
7. Loving God means compassion.
Remember the answer from Jesus when He was asked which commandment was the greatest?
“Jesus answered, ‘The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.’” (Mark 12:29–31)
If we truly love God then we love one another. if we truly love God we love His Church, which is, of course, one another. if we truly love God we will love those He loves, and show our love for Him in the love we show for others.
Our love for God?
All in!
Anything less is unacceptable.
Soli Deo gloria!
