Love The LORD Your God

With All Your Heart

“These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Sometimes as a pastor calls his flock to yield their lives to Jesus, parishioners take white handkerchiefs out of their pockets and wave them in the air. Notice the tears in their eyes. They are expressing their full surrender to Christ.

They may not just be surrendering to Christ. They may be waving the flags because of their love of God.

From God’s point of view, life with Him is far more than just trying to be good. It is always about relationship – relationship in which surrender is the way we express our grateful love to Him. Jesus, in His amazing love for us, surrendered Himself on the cross to rescue us from our helpless bondage to sin and set us on a journey to all that is good and glorious.

We don’t have enough words to tell God how much we love Him! So, let’s show Him our love by surrendering our hearts and lives to follow Him.

Surrender is God’s love language.

Our Daily Bread – July 23, 2014