Love, With All Your Heart

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Scripture: Deuteronomy 10:12 (NLT)

12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul.

Devotion:

            Sometimes we make Christianity too complicated. In this verse, Moses instructs the people of Israel in the simple (yet difficult to do) way to please God. To walk in the ways of our God we must walk in the way of love. Our love must be a love of total devotion seeking to bring glory to the name of our God. This is where our fallen human nature gives us problems. As the apostle Paul would write centuries later, “15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.” (Romans 7:15 ESV)

            We can all echo Paul’s sentiment. All of us have failed at loving God. Loving others consistently is a difficult assignment. We fail miserably at Jesus’ command to love our enemies. However, God would not assign us such a duty if he did not give us a way to accomplish it. As we read in Galatians chapter five, the first fruit of the Spirit is love. We are encouraged in scripture to ask for the Holy Spirit to fill us, so that we will be able to love God with all our hearts, and souls.

            Moses in the scripture for today must have known how hard it would be for the people of Israel to love in the way commanded in this scripture. Israel was a chosen people. They had received the promises of God. We have received a better promise in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus from the grave. What we find difficult they must have found impossible.

Human beings have difficulty following laws. Even the law of love is hard for us to obey. If we are to keep this law let us, ask God to give us the Holy Spirit:

Prayer:

            Lord, we come before your throne at this hour as a people who are sinful and broken. Help us to know your sure forgiveness for our sin. Fill us with the Holy Spirit, so that we may live lives that bring you honor and glory. Help us Lord, to love you with our whole self. May we always seek to be examples of your love to our hurting and lost world. Grant us new life in Christ, so that we may be able to live in him. Amen.

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