The duty of a Christian?

Introduction

When I was growing up, the dating game entered my life around the time of middle school. It was first in 6th grade that I started really gaining an interest in girls and relationships. My friends and I would write letters to the 8th grade girls that were exchanged every day between classes. If you did not get any letters, chances are that none of the girls had an interest in you. Some of us received letters from multiple girls showing that there was a lot of interest. As I moved on to a bigger school and as I got older, the dating game changed. As I got older, the girls in the relationships desired more attention so that they knew that you cared about them. I remember one girl saying that if her boyfriend did not call her at least once a day, she would break up with him. As I progressed into high school, the requirements of a good boyfriend increased. A good boyfriend was now required to text and hang out all the time. A good boyfriend couldnt show any kind of interest in other girls. A good boyfriend couldnt have any friends that were girls that would possibly steal attention from her. Looking to the future, a marriage is when someone puts their life as secondary to them, putting their spouse above them. In a marriage, you are expected to know pretty much every little thing about someone. If the husband is going to whatever restaruant, he should know what his wife can eat from there and what she doesnt eat from there. He would know all of the little things that would make her mad, in other words, everything he should avoid doing. A good husband will know just the right thing to do to show his wife that he loves her. Overall, marriage is supposed to be love at its greatest form among humans. How would you feel if your spouse didnt love you? Better yet, what if they always told you that they loved you but their actions never showed it. What if they could care less about the things that make you happy and they were always doing things that made you mad. What kind of relationship would that be?

Todays Text:

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

Body

It is said among Christians all over the world today that we dont do religion but we do relationship. In some cases, I think it would probably look better if they did religion because the relationship is pretty much non-existant. So what exactly is a Christian? The Lexham Bible Dictionary says that a Christian is “One who worships Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah and Son of the God of Israel.” The Concise Oxford English Dictionary, a secular dictionary, says a Christian is, “relating to or professing Christianity or its teachings.” What is your definition of a Christian? I think some peoples definition of a Christian is what is easiest for them. Christian is a box that I check on applications. I am a Christian because I go to church on Sundays. I am a Christian because I said the sinners prayer and was baptized. I was one of these people for a lot of my life. Christian was something I feel that I adopted similar to being a white male. I knew of God but I didnt think it was important enough to dwell on so I put the whole idea in a box in my room somewhere. How many people do the same thing today?

When I was born again, I still didnt have it figured out what it meant to be a Christian. I started off on fire for Jesus as people that are born again do but the fire faded after a while and I could not figure out what to do next. Reading my Bible got boring. Prayer was not important. I was a good person at church but my personal life didnt show that. I once heard an analogy that makes a good example of this. When the Israelites were brought out of the land of Egypt, they worshipped and sang songs and praised God. This is like the on fire moment for a Christian. They then spent 40 years wandering in the desert not knowing whether they wanted to go back to Egypt or trust God to deliver them to the promised land. I believe a lot of Christians today are still stuck in the wilderness. Nearly all of the first generations people died in that desert due to their idolatry and not trusting in God. Out of all of them people, God chose Joshua and Caleb to see the promised land because they believed in Him and acted on it. A Christian is more than someone who just checks the box but is someone whose actions show it.

So back to the illustration I used in the beginning. We saw that relationships didnt work when there wasnt devotion. How can we say we have a relationship with Jesus when the devotion is not there. Our text for today says “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.” As a Christian, we are to love God above all else. We see this in . “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” What Jesus is saying that anyone who puts any of those people or things above Him cant be his disciple. I think the illustration of the husband and wife is a good way to illustrate this devotion we are to have to God.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart!

The heart is the central, innermost, or vital part of something. The LORD says to “ guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” ( NIV) Everything you do flows from your heart. Loving the LORD your God with all your mean that everything you do is a result of your love for the LORD. The most vital part of your existence is your love for God.

Love the Lord your God with all your soul!

Your soul is the spiritual or immaterial part of your existence. The word soul is often translated from the Hebrew word that means breath or life.

If you read through the book of Psalms, you will see that the word soul appears many times. In these scriptures, I will replace the word soul with life.

My soul(LIFE) is consumed with longing for your rules at all times. (v20)

My soul(LIFE) clings to the dust; give me life according to your word! (v25)

My soul(LIFE) melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word! (v28)

My soul(LIFE) longs for your salvation; I hope in your word. () (v81)

Looking at it from the breath example, we can see that this means loving the LORD as much as you love every breath you take. Looking at it from the life example you can see that you should love the LORD with all your LIFE!

Love the Lord your God with all your strength!

The word strength is translated from a Hebrew word that means power or ability. says, “ You know that I have served your father with all my strength,” Loving the LORD your God with all your strength would mean loving Him with everything you got putting all of your will power towards this matter.