"GIVING HIM OUR 'ALL IN LOVE'"

Good Evening to All!

You shall love the LORD your God with all our heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:5 NKJV)

Have you ever been in a "relationship" where your significant other seems "just not that into you?" Yes, I know that the name of a popular movie, yet that is the way it is at times in life, as well as in our relationship with God.

Our spouse or boy/girl friend can sometimes seem preoccupied with other things going on in their lives such as their school studies, their sports practices, their jobs, or even other people in the family. We do that to God sometimes. Actually, more often than not.

It's kind of like "out of sight out of mind", and that's not only sad, but dangerous. As we see in the verse above, God wants our undivided attention. He wants "ALL" of us to love Him. When we "brush Him off" by putting His will below our own, that is saying that we do not love Him that way.

Whenever we devote our time to lesser important things in life, a couple of examples being other entertainment, or sports instead of being in church worshiping Him on Sunday, or whenever else there are services or church functions during the week, we are telling Him in so many words that He is not important enough to take up your time.

Instead of "giving God our left-over" worship and praise, you know, whatever energy we have left after cheering on our kids ball games, or the speedway, or even getting excited about the 3 pound fish you caught while fishing at the lake, we need to make Him our FIRST PRIORITY. Give Him our FIRST praise and worship emotions, then give our "entertainment" what we have left.

We must remember that anything we put above God is like putting another "god" above Him. It is our flesh's way and Satan's way of distracting us from our ULTIMATE GOAL which is to develop a strong relationship that cannot be broken with God.

Think about it . Christ loved us with ALL of His heart, soul, and strength, as well as giving it up for us. We must show Him the same regard. I know that as we are human, we have a sinful nature. Not only that, but to an extent we are selfish. I don't mean that we aren't good-hearted, or won't step up to the plate for a cause. What I am talking about is that most generally, we have a "me" personality. What I mean is we tend to say, "I want to bless others" by volunteering, but then we go around broadcasting the "good deeds" we are doing. That seems to be counter-productive in the fact that when we do that, we are "blowing our own horns" to get praise. That's a big no-no.

OK, I think I got off track for a moment, but our relationship with Him, should be "all about Him". Not what He can do for us, but us loving Him because of WHO HE IS.

We give our bosses at work more respect than we give God. Think about it. When the boss talks to us, WE LISTEN. We generally don't have to be told to do something more than once. How many times does God have to knock on the door of your spirit to get you to listen to Him?

We show up for work on time, and we even work overtime when asked. Not so with God. If we have something better to do such as sleeping in, or going fishing, or even mowing the grass, well, we tell ourselves I'll go Wednesday night. Now this is one of which I'm guilty. I do go to church EVERY TIME we have a service (unless I'm so sick I can't), but as soon as my Pastor says we're dismissed, I may speak to one or two people "on the way out the door". I don't stick around to pray at the alter, or be in His presence .

That is something I need to work on, as well as getting there a little early TO PRAY. I'm getting better at that as well, but only if I don't meet someone to talk to on the way in. We NEED that early prayer time to get our hearts prepared to hear what God is going to be telling us through our Pastor.

Even if I just spend a couple of minutes, I always pray for God to have HIS way in the service and to open my heart and my ears to hear what He wants me to learn.

These are just a few ways to show our love toward God. In recapping, showing love with all our heart, all our soul, and with all our strength, means with every fiber of our being. Keeping Him and His ways in our heart, being mindful of Him, and act the way He would want us to act, and worshipping and praising Him with all of our strength, even when we are tired, or just don't feel like doing it, as well as showing strength during our trials, knowing that He will bring us through them.

Now I'm sure that there is a more eloquent way of stating that, and more than likely others smarter than me have a better understanding of what that verse entails, but that's what I feel when I read it.

Good Night to All and May God Bless!