For the Love of God

As a child and teenager, I can remember after church on Sunday morning we would catch up with everyone else. What had gone on during the week, what was going on with family and friends, it was a time for the adults to catch up and us kids to get into some mischief or play. Once the catching up was over, we would usually have to decide whether we would go with one set of grandparents or the other. I can still smell the dinner my grandma or grandmother would have on the table, the sweet tea, and the desserts. But I can also remember visiting relatives and friends. It was an important part of the week. It would usually mean one of two things; sitting on the front porch or playing in the front yard with cousins while my aunt and uncle would catch up with grandma and grandpa. The other set of grandparents might take off and go to one of grandmothers sisters. The memories of Schwanns ice cream, stopping at one of the stores for something special, or eating neapolitan ice cream with my uncle. Sundays were time when we slowed down, we focused on God, and we took time to be with family and friends. To be honest, those were some of the fondest memories growing up. It was a day when we could take our minds off the week, off of work, and focused on God and family.

What has happened to us? Where has that sense of community, worship, and family gone? Now, it would be hard to place the priorities of our lives. Is it self, homes, cars, work, money, etc., or is it family, community, and God? I often wonder if some of the reasons we are so discontent today is because we have misplaced our priorities. We are so focused on everything else going on in life that we have forgotten the need to disconnect and place focus on God. We are so worried about what we might be missing on social media, whether we will beat everyone else to the fast food line, we panic over all the “things” that are more important at home or the office. Our priorities just could be in the wrong place, and we are uncomfortable because we don’t think life is going “our” way when we should be taking time to relax and focus on God.

In discussing the nature of mankind, one must disengage today’s mentality of self-gratification.  It can be argued we are becoming less social and more inwardly focused.  Focus has been placed on strengthening inner self, accepting who we are, and staying true to oneself.  While this creates a strong sense of self, it strays from what scripture says is the most important place to focus our attention.  Deuteronomy 6:5 implores us “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”  This verse is preceded with the statement that this is a commandment, the statutes, and the rules from God which Jesus would use to answer the Pharisees question of what was the greatest commandment in Matthew.

We need to get back to focusing on what is important, and what God desires for us and our lives.

Keep The Statutes and Rules

Deuteronomy 6:1–5 ESV

1 “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. 4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Here, Moses reminds the Israelites they are to teach their children, their grandchildren, and all generations how to fear the Lord - to have respect and honor for God and who He is. We are to show Him reverence - a deep respect. Could it be that we no longer have a deep respect for God? A person who truly reverences, respects, fears God should surrender their life so they can serve God and obey His commands. We should show this reverence to Him not only for what He has done in our live, but also what He can do in the life of a person who disobeys the commandments of God.

Have we ever wondered whether our disobedience could be the reason for our discontentment? Could this be the reason we feel as though we haven’t “arrived” or “made it” yet? Could it be we are uneasy because we are looking in the wrong place for our peace? Moses tells the Israelites that keeping God’s commandments will prolong your days and give us enjoyment of a long life! Those who obey God experience less guilt, less pressure, less tension, the things that eat away at us, cause ulcers, and all sorts of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual problems. It are these things that can cause our life to be shortened. Ulcers, heart attacks, strokes, you get my point. But by following the commands of God, when we are OBEYING God, this obedience brings peace, contentment, and gratitude for what we have in life. Obedience brings about a full, satisfying life.

So, what is the greatest commandment given to God’s people? Jesus was asked this same question by a Pharisee and even He quoted this passage in Deuteronomy. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. There is only one God, and we are to LOVE the Lord OUR God with all of our being. With everything in us. Why? Because God gave everything to us through His Son. The LORD is our God (v. 4). This is a personal relationship between a worshipper and the LORD. It is a daily experience. The LORD is one LORD (v. 4). There is no other.

We are to love God as your very own God because He is the ONLY Lord. This is a personal relationship, not a distant relationship. God is not impersonal, far out in space someplace, distant and removed. God is personal, ever so close, and we are to be personally involved with God on a face-to-face basis. The command is to “love the LORD thy God.” Loving God is alive and active, not dead and inactive. Therefore, we are to maintain a personal relationship with God that is alive and active.

Note that Jesus Christ says to love God with all your being. Christ breaks our being down into three parts: the heart, the soul, and strength.

The heart (lebab) is the inner part, the inner man of a person. The heart is the seat of man’s affection and will (devotion). The heart attaches and focuses our will and devotion. The heart causes us to give either good things or bad things. The heart causes us to devote ourselves to either good or bad. Therefore, Christ says we are to love God “with all our heart.” We are to focus our heart, our affection, and our will (devotion) upon God. We are to love God supremely.

The soul (nephesh) is the seat of man’s breath and life or consciousness. The soul is the life of a man, the consciousness, the breath, the essence, the being of a man. The soul is the animal life of a man. The soul is the breath and consciousness that distinguishes man and other animals from vegetation. The world of vegetation lives and man and animals live, but there is a difference in their living. Man and animals are breathing and conscious beings. The essence of their being is breath and consciousness. They are living souls. This is clearly pointed out in the Hebrew language of Ge. 1:20: “Let the waters bring forth abundantly living souls [nephesh] that hath life. The living souls that God created were different from the vegetation He had just created. The living souls were creatures (fish) that breathed and possessed consciousness.

Christ said we are to love God with all our soul, that is, with all our life, our breath, our consciousness. We are to love God with all the breath and consciousness, all the life and awareness we have.

The word strength (meod) means the full strength, all the strength of a person. It means to use up one’s strength thoroughly, to the point of exhaustion. We are to love God with all our strength—fully, thoroughly, to the point of exhaustion. The greatest commandment is clear: we must love God with all our hearts, souls, and strength and He will provide us with a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Duty to Teach

Deuteronomy 6:6–9 ESV

6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, 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. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

As a parent, and as adults in the church, we have a duty to teach, talk, and place on the heart of others about God’s commandments and laws. To be able to do these things, though the believer has to place the commandments in their own heart. God’s commandments are to be front and center, first and foremost in the believer’s life. He is to cherish the commandments, cradle them in his heart. Simply stated, the believer is to be totally committed, wholeheartedly committed to the commandments. We are to hold them ever so near and dear to our heart.

The believer is to diligently teach the commandments to his children (v. 7). The commandments are not automatically taught to children. Educating children is an absolute necessity. And note: education is not just teaching facts and principles, not just passing along information. Teaching is experiencing the truth personally, living out the truth before the children. It is applying the truth of the commandments to one’s heart and experiencing the truths within one’s own life. The children then see the truth of the commandments lived before their very eyes, and they absorb the truth, pick it up automatically. The truth becomes a part of their lives. This is exactly what Moses was preaching: the believer was constantly to talk about the commandments when he sat at home, when he walked along the road throughout the day, when he laid down, and when he got up. The whole thrust is that he was to live by the commandments, experience them, obey them, and set the dynamic example before his children.

The believer is to use the commandments as a strong witness and testimony before the public (vv. 8–9). When an Israelite was out in public, he was to bind the commandments on his hands and forehead. Within the home, he was to write them on his doorposts and on his gates. This particular charge has been literally practiced by orthodox Jews down through the centuries. They have copied four sections from the law and put these passages in leather cases and tied them to their arms and on their foreheads during morning prayers. Some have also put two passages of Scripture in a metal or glass case and attached it to the right doorpost of every entrance to their homes.

The thrust of Moses’ preaching was that the home was to be the center for bearing testimony to the truth of the commandments. Very simply, the believer was to place the commandments in the very core of his heart and diligently teach them to his children both by example and word. Moreover, he was to bear strong testimony to the commandments both outside and inside his home. His home was to be known as a righteous home, a home where the commandments of God were taught and lived.

Closing

What “gods of the people” are we placing in front of the God of Israel today? How is that impacting not only our relationship with Him, but our own physical, mental, and spiritual health? How is that then impacting how our children are hearing and learning about God?

As we are getting ready to go into this week of Vacation Bible School, we need to remind ourselves that this week is not about us. We need to prepare our hearts, our minds, and our souls by focusing on our personal relationship with God so that we can be ready to teach others about the commandments given to us by God. You see, we are hosting VBS for one reason - to show others how much we love the Lord. It will be through our own personal preparation that we can show these kids how much Jesus loves them too.