We are commanded to love God and love and worship Him first in our lives.
Deuteronomy 6:5. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Even Jesus when he answered a Pharisee about which was the greatest commandment in the law:
Matthew 22:37-40. And He said to him, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it,YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
We are to love our God, the Father, with everything we have. Our whole heart, our whole mind and our whole soul and strength. Let’s look at why we should love God and see how much God loves us.
John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.I John 4:19. We love, because He first loved us.
Yahweh, our Father, didn’t hold anything back from us. He gave His son, who did no sin, and gave his life for us so we can have eternity. He loved us first, before we loved Him.
Ephesians 1:3, 2:1-4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,Ephesians 2:12,13. remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.Romans 5:8. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Absolutely amazing! What a loving Father we have. We had no clue before that our lives were in peril of not having eternal life, that we literally did not have God in our life. We walked in disobedience, and literally were good for nothing. We couldn’t do anything to save ourselves, neither help ourselves to walk in a Godly manner, appreciating all that was done for us. And it’s all because God loved us first! What rejoicing in our hearts! We simply accept His love, His sacrifice of His son for our lives and the only logical conclusion we have to come to in our hearts and minds is to love God back with our whole heart, mind, soul and might! How could we not! Look at what has been done for us. We did nothing to deserve it, nor did we have to work for His love. God FIRST loved us!
God freely showed His great sacrificial love towards us. How could we not love Him back! My husband John has a saying, “you have to be dumber than the dirt you are standing on!” We definitely don’t want to be dumber than dirt. Really consider the immense love that God showed to all mankind. Every single person, every hater, everyone who opposed Him. Even for the worst of the worst, God gave His Son for mankind. We either accept His gracious mercy, or deny Him. In so doing, we either are blessed or cursed. I would think the choice is a simple one.
When we understand and accept God’s grace in our lives, it motivates and encourages us. God’s love is not conditional but rather based on our acceptance of His love. His love shapes us on how we view ourselves. God’s love gives us a solid foundation in our hearts and minds. When times are challenging, and we face doubt and despair, we go back and meditate that He loves us and has not moved away from us. He is always there.
Psalm 54:4. Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is the sustainer of my soul.Isaiah 41:10,13. Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. For I am the LORD your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’Romans 8:31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?Psalm 118:6. The LORD is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?
God’s help and love in our lives is not fleeting, it doesn’t come and go. But, there are times when our love and reverence for God does come and go. We at times in our lives forget and lose our first love. We forget of God’s goodness and love. We forget He is merciful, forgiving, and a good Father to us.
Life gets too busy. We have all said it at times in our lives. Distractions come at us and sometimes we are blindsided. We didn’t see it coming and throws us off guard. Temptations come at us like fiery darts to draw us away from our Father. And the temptations aren’t always bad, just so good that it’s hard to resist and before you know it, you haven’t even thought about God for quite some time. For some people, it could even be years! I cringe when people say to me, “I’m going to stand forever!” Next thing you know, they are gone just like the wind.
Our forgetfulness doesn’t happen instantaneous. It’s gradual. Little by little, things get in the way. Before you know it, you don’t pray every day, you don’t tell Yahweh that you love Him. How sad is that? But it happens. Even Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, warns Peter that the devil wants to sift him like wheat. Jesus told him he prayed for him that his faith wouldn’t fail.
Now I am not a great baker, but I know that sometimes you have to sift the flour before you mix it. You put the flour in a cup and then you turn the handle and little by little the flour comes out and it takes the clumps away. But it’s little by little.
Well, that is what happens to us. It’s a gradual turning away from God and His Word. It’s not being diligent to stay the course. Like I said before, life gets too busy. And sometimes it just has to be that way. I was extremely busy when my kids were little. Many people have to work two jobs. Many people are single parents. Yes, there are things in our lives, BUT that doesn’t excuse you to forget about God. You can have all of those things in your life that takes so much time, but your heart stays in remembrance of His love and goodness and you can always find a minute or two to tell Yahweh you love Him and pray to Him.
There really are no excuses. We control what we think and how we act and we must take responsibility for our own heart and mind. You can resist the temptations that come your way. The devil can’t make you forget. When the challenges come you can either turn to God for help or not. When you get blindsided and overwhelmed, turn your focus to God for help, because He is the only one who can help and deliver us. His comfort will surround us. Our Father will uphold us by His right hand. He doesn’t let go of us. Yahweh will give us the strength we need each and every day. We are His children. He truly loves us. Yahweh loved us first!
Psalm 63:1,7,8. O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings, I sing for joy. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.Psalm 119:11,16. Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You. I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word.
So, what shall we say to these things? Time to examine your own heart and mind.
Lamentations 3:40. Let us examine and probe our ways, And let us return to the LORD.
I have a song that I love called The Goodness Of God. It’s done by Bethel Music. Here is the first verse.
Oh, Your mercy never fails me. I’ve been held in Your hands from the moment that I wake up until I lay my head. I will sing of the goodness of God.
That’s the way we should love Yahweh. He is our loving Father. His mercy and love never fails, nor has He ever left us alone. But, think about yourself, where is your heart and mind? Have you
forgotten about Him? Does your love for Yahweh remain strong in your heart? Does He come first? Yahweh has surely put you first!
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