Loving God with All

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” –Deuteronomy 6:5

Let's take a break today (as we should every day) and spend some time reflecting on what it means to truly love the Lord. We'll start by loving Him with all our heart. When I think of heart-love, I think of friendship and romance. Have you ever thought of being "in love" with God? Worship Him. Adore Him. Praise Him. Imagine gazing deeply into His eyes, content just to be in His awesome presence! What a privilege! Slow down for a moment and savor the joy.

Next we'll love Him with all our soul. This part of us should be full of gratitude for eternal salvation. God is our maker, our redeemer, and our perfecter. As we love our Lord with all our soul, we offer respect and a willingness to sit at His feet, to drink in His wisdom, to accept His discipline, to grow and change as He wants us to do.

Finally we'll love Him with all our strength. To do this, we simply dedicate every task to His glory, from washing the dishes to teaching Sunday school to changing a baby's diaper to taking a friend to lunch. We can also talk to God as we do these things, thanking Him for the opportunity to serve Him by serving others and making this world, His creation, a slightly better place.

I don't know about you, but now that I've looked at loving God that way, my to-do list doesn't look quite so dreary. Somehow, loving God makes all of life more meaningful, perhaps even sacred. I'm glad we took this break today.

Lord, I love You--with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my strength. Amen.


For more devotional thoughts today, visit the Spiritual Sunday meme.