Bible Reading: Exodus 31-33; Matthew 22:23-46
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” Matthew 22:37
Total love is loving God in every aspect of our being, that is what God wants and requires from us. Total love is different from total obedience. While obedience is important and necessary, even if sometimes we don’t understand why, it is not equal to love. Obedience can show love, but it can also show fear. If we love God, we will obey him.
Total love is also different from total knowledge. Knowledge is good and can lead us to know more about God. But knowledge can never replace loving God. If we love God, we will be delighted to know him.
Loving God must begin with the heart. It begins with delighting ourselves in Him “Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart” Psalm 37:4(KJV). Also, 1 Peter 1:8 (KJV) says, “whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”
The heart must have the earnest desire to strive after Him and seek Him for His own sake. This is the internal aspect of love, the aspect which focuses on emotion, disposition and motive. If the love is really genuine, it will be outwardly expressed and put into action. This is the external aspect of love, which focuses on the will. This is expressed in the choices we make, the thoughts we think, the words we speak, the things we do and the way we live our life. These internal and external aspects of love can be seen in the words, ‘with all thine heart’ (internal), ‘and with all thy soul, and with all thy might’ (external).
Total love is not feeling good about God. Some of the requirements for total love might not be pleasant things that love asks us to do are not fun and do not leave us feeling good. But love does help us develop deep feelings for God in our heart, soul, mind and strength. Jesus wants total love; Love from our emotions. Love from our spirits. Love from our knowledge. Love in our physical actions. Love that reaches in and combines all of who we are and hope to be. Love for God is eternal. It joins us to God in joyful appreciation of all he has done for us, is doing through us, and will do for us in the future.
God is not satisfied with the outward appearance of works alone, but demands the inward feelings, that continue to grow from our heart, through our minds and manifested outwardly in our works. Therefore we must feel and act in a loving way to fulfill God’s greatest commandment.
Prayer: Father endue me with the Spirit of love to love you with the whole of my being.
Pastor Alfred Samuel