With all you've got!

What is the most important thing we can do today?

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength.

When Jesus was asked by the religious leaders what  the most important command was, He quoted Deuteronomy 6:5.  This verse contains the most important command in all of scripture.

It is an important reminder for us and it was an important reminder to the Israelites. God had delivered them from being slaves in Egypt, but they were not yet at the place that was promised. They were not yet in the place they hoped for, so they are in the middle.

Perhaps today, you too feel like you are in the middle.  You have been set free from things that have held you back but you are also still waiting for something that feels far out of reach.

In Deuteronomy Moses speaks to the Israelites reminding them, in the middle, who they are, and what they have come from and what it is that God asks of them.

We read in Deuteormomy 6:5,  Love the Lord your God with all you heart and with all your soul and all your strength. Essentially it is saying, “Love God with all you’ve got!”  And you might feel like you don’t have much, your heart is heavy and your soul is depleted and your strength is running out and God is saying…. “Love me with all you’ve got!”  “ Draw closer to me”.

As we draw near to God, God will heal our heart, God will revive our soul and renew our strength.  Just like the Israelites needed to be reminded, I want to remind you, of who you are, what you have come from… you are loved and chosen by God and your life has purpose.  Look at how far you have come.  Look at what God has delivered you from. Don’t forget the faithfulness of God and don’t forget His command.

Amidst everything you have to do in your life, the most important thing is that you love God wholly and completely.

Don’t give God half your life.  Don’t give God just the part that is easiest to give to Him.  Remember what God has brought you from and love God with all you’ve got!

Think about what you are thinking

I was watching a show on television the other night. The story was of a  woman who decided that her life was in a rut and she wanted to do something to break up the monotony. In the course of the 30 min show she made some very bad decisions, with horrific consequences, all because she was “feeling” something.  Granted it was a tv show but it got me thinking about how so many of us make decisions.

In fact I read a report that indicated that 70% of decisions made are based on emotional factors and only 30% are based on rational factors. Which means that we make some of the most important decisions in our lives based on how we feel! And depending on how we feel, that is a scary proposition.

In Colossians 3:2, the Apostle Paul gives us a hint that they may not always be the best way to make decisions.  He says:

Set you minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Feelings are good but not when we are ruled by them. Order is important because how we feel follows how we think.  So it is important to think about what we think about.

So how do we do that?

First, we can be people of prayer.  Find a minute or two or five today and pray. Focus your attention on God and just talk to your Heavenly Father.

Second. Read scripture. Perhaps you have a favourite bible app that gives you the verse of the day.  Or perhaps you have a tactile bible (like the one you can hold and flip the actual pages) maybe decide to read through a book of the bible between now and Easter.

And finally, think about what you think about.

Set you minds on things above, not on earthly things.

For such a time as this!

I began my morning with my bible app and a cup of tea overlooking the most spectacular view.  Dramatic hills in the background, opulent sky, the cascading blue waters of Samana Bay splashing against the rocks and the sun warming my face.  We had dodged the last snow storm in Toronto and were sunning in a beautiful resort in the Dominican Republic.

I have been reading through the book of Esther, in the Old Testament.  If you haven’t read it, I encourage you to do so.  It is a wonderful book. As I was reading, on this beautiful day, this verse struck me:

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?  Esther 4:14

This verse was spoken to Esther because she found herself in a position to rescue her people, the Jews, from death. But, if she followed through with her plans to intervene, she put her own life at risk because of the laws at that time. Esther was reluctant, but she trusted that God sovereignly put her in that position at that time to do what needed to be done.

This is true for each of us as well. God has a plan for you and for me.  And there will be times when God will ask us to do things that are difficult. But could it be that all we have experienced, the very place where God has put right now is for such a time as this? It’s not that God can’t accomplish His plans without us, God most certainly can. But God invites us to participate because in doing so it strengthens our faith.

As we continue to walk with God and abide in God, may we like Esther be found faithful.