Love the Lord With all Your Heart

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

— Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37 

 

And to love Him with all your heart and with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, which is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.

–Mark 12:33

Why is the Lord asking us to love Him with all our hearts?

We live in a reward-driven world. Working for a reward is an acceptable lifestyle even in Christendom. We are driven to serve the Lord because we will get rewards here on earth and in heaven. If this is all we practice, we may not fully understand His love. 

God is asking for no rival when it comes to loving Him. He is asking for an undivided heart and undivided attention. Ask Martha! She was busy gathering the firewood, cleaning the pots and dishes, and bringing out the best she had so she could offer the Lord a meal. What is wrong with that?

God appreciates our service, however, it must flow from a heart of love. It must flow from “relationship”. We cannot run errands for a Person we do not know, One that we do not love unreservedly. 

Can the Lord ask you to sit down? Or the work you are doing for Him is more important and more urgent than ‘sipping a cup of water with Him in a moment of quietness of your soul’.

Ask Peter! The first thing Jesus sorted out before commissioning him was the issue of the placement of God’s love in his heart. “Peter, do you love Me more than these? Then feed My lamb!” I imagine the Lord addressing Peter this way, “Peter I know you can do a lot for Me, I know! But set My love above all of these. If you do not, you can get distracted from Me.” 

I imagine Jesus saying to Peter, “Peter, you must love Me first before you can feed My lamb. I know you are eloquent, and feeding the lamb is something you can do naturally, but in order to do it as unto Me, you must love Me first. My love in your heart has to be your primary reason for doing My work. The other way round will not be correct.”

Loving the Lord involves enjoying His presence, just sitting there, gazing at His face. Remember Mary and Martha? It involves complete obedience to His will alone. Whatever the Lord wants is what our hearts want if we are really in a loving relationship with Him.

Loving the Lord has to become our purpose intentionally. We have to set His love far above the desires for rewards or service.

How do we love Him this way?

The heart is the place of this love. This kind of love demands a sacrifice! We must be ready to pay the price, getting rid of all that contends for our hearts. Remember Abraham surrendering Isaac? 

What else have we given our hearts to?

Dear brethren, let’s revisit our priorities. Is the love of God still burning in our hearts? Are we serving Him for love or for gain? Are we constantly being fuelled by this love for Him so we don’t get carried away toiling endlessly outside of His love?

A heart conquered by God’s love is a fertile field for God-inspired service.

Martha, Martha, you take pains and are troubled about many things. But only one thing is necessary… -Luke 10:41-42a.

Practice starting your day with this prayer: I love You, Lord. I love You more than “these”. I love You with all my heart. Lord, please direct my heart more and more into Your love. Show me today where this love can become a service to You in the lives of the people around me, in Jesus’ name!