MISSION:LOVE 7

In Ephesians 5:25 we learn of Messiah’s love for us.  He loves us like a husband.  Why?  Because we are His Bride.  He died for us and His blood established His marriage covenant with us. Now we are preparing ourselves as we await His return when He will take us to our heavenly home.  Yes, we see in a glass dimly now (1 Corinthians 13:12) but one day we will truly know.  For now in our preparation, as we develop our love relationship with our heavenly Bridegroom, we seek to know Him more intimately every day.  We want to obey Yeshua’s command to Love God with all our heart, soul and mind. (Matthew 22:36-38)

When Yeshua told us the most important command from the law, He quoted Deuteronomy chapter 6.  In that chapter are seven of God’s commandments:

“ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might.”
“These words which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart.”
“ You shall teach them diligently to your sons.”
“ 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 up.”
“ You shall bind them as a sign on your hands.”
“ They shall be as frontals on your forehead.”
“ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

In reality, many commandments in the Word all revolve around the first commandment, to love God with all our heart, soul and might.

All? In the dictionary “all” is defined as “ to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent.” How many things compete with God for all your love? How do we love God with “all” our heart? In Deut. 6 we find instructions to help us obey this commandment. Let’s look at those first 7 commandments again…

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might.”   So this is the greatest commandment.  How do we do it?  Read on…

“These words which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart.” God’s first instruction to help us is by telling us to keep His words on our hearts. This means to think about the Scriptures. It sounds simplistic, but part of loving God with all our hearts is done just by thinking about Him, and His Word.

“You shall teach them diligently to your sons.” Another way we show our obedience to this commandment is by active discipleship.

“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 up.” This tells us to talk about God in our homes with our families. God wants us to talk about Him outside the home as well, with friends, neighbors and co-workers. We’re also to meditate on loving God when we go to sleep and wake up.

“You shall bind them as a sign on your hands.” This tells us that we’re to love God through the work that we do, as well as everything we put our hands to. “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.” (Colossians 3:23)

“They shall be as frontals on your forehead.” A “frontal” is something situated near the forehead. Anything on our forehead  will be in front of us always, and something we’re always conscious of. Being continuously conscious of these commandments is another way to love God with all our heart, soul and might.”

“You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Doors and gates let things in and out of our homes. Eyes, ears and mouths let things in and out of our lives. We must only let things in and out that prove we love God. We have to be very careful about what we watch (tv/movies), listen to (teachings/music) and what we say. Giving attention to these areas will bring us closer to loving God with all our heart, soul and might. Remember God’s instructions for us in 1 Peter 1:16.

So here are some questions we can ask ourselves to see if we’re being obedient to this first and most important commandment.

• What do we normally think about?
• How are we discipling?
• What do we regularly talk about?
• Why and how do we do our work?
• What kinds of things do we watch and listen to?
• What comes out of our mouths?

Talk about these questions with your Mentor. And remember if we find areas in our lives where we’re not loving the Lord, let’s come to Him and ask forgiveness. (1 John 1:9)  Honesty and humility are essential characteristics for building a life of intimacy with God.