ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 60 - Deuteronomy 5-7 (How Much Do You Love God?)
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)
Shema Yisrael (or Sh'ma Yisrael; Hebrew: שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל; "Hear, [O] Israel") are the first two words of a section of the Torah, and is the title (sometimes shortened to simply Shema) of a prayer that serves as a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services. Observant Jews consider the Shema to be the most important part of the prayer service in Judaism, and its twice-daily recitation as a mitzvah(religious commandment). It is traditional for Jews to say the Shema as their last words, and for parents to teach their children to say it before they go to sleep at night. (Wikipedia)
Enough of the wiki material and on to the practical application of our Scripture passage. For years now, I have tried to include the essence of the Shema in my morning and evening prayers together with my children and wife. My highest desire and ambition for myself and my family is to love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength. I admire A.W. Tozer, a man of God who is known for his deep love and passion for God, for making public his ambition in life which was to love God more than any other person in history.
What does it mean to love God with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength? From reading the whole Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, the common reader will learn a few basic and simple truths regarding the question above. I will list a few that come to mind:
-it means to obey God’s commands
-it means to love others as you love yourself
-it means to trust God fully especially when the temptation is to trust in man including yourself
-it means to take God at His Word, believing that whatever He says will happen exactly as He said it would
-it means to hate sin
-it means to not conform to the standards of this world but rather to be transformed by the renewing of your mind through God’s Word
-it means to love His Word, the Bible more than food and any pleasure this world offers
-it means to be willing to die rather than deny God
-it means to be a disciple of Christ, denying yourself and carrying your cross (dying constantly to your own selfish desires and your pre-conceived rights
-it means spending time talking with God in prayer
-it means sharing God’s Word, especially the gospel of salvation, to others
-it means loving God’s chosen people, the Jews
-it means giving to God your money, talents and time
I can add to the list above but I think it would be better it you do. More important than knowing what it means to love God is to actually practice it. So, how are you doing with the above list?
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