What does God Expect from Me?



The following is an excerpt from a book I have been working on titled

"This Day His Day"  subtitled: Learning to live a life for Jesus, today! 
    
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.( Matthew 22:37). ESV

“Foundational in Deuteronomy 6:5 and repeated twice daily by faithful Jews, this  passage from Matthew quoted by Jesus, encapsulates the idea of total devotion to God and includes the duty to obey the rest of God's commandments.”  ESV Study Bible notes
   
I have learned that people do what they enjoy doing. That is, people make time for what interests them. Today in our fast paced lives, time is the one commodity that most people are least likely to give away. 

It’s been said “Don’t waste time, for time is the stuff of life”.  

For believers who want to grow in Christ likeness, that is becoming like him (And if a believer has no such desire, something is lacking in the very core of their faith) we have the words of our Lord from Matthews Gospel to challenge, and in essence compel us to be people who love, people who love the Lord with a passion that propels us to a deeper awareness of who Jesus is, and who we can be in Him!
                 
              Our Lords expectations of His people:

And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God… Shall is a strong word isn’t it? It is demanding, it brings to mind the absolutes of childhood…you shall clean your room!  You shall not fight with your brother and sister! Now I don’t remember my Dad or Mom using the word “Shall” exactly…but they were well acquainted with the word synonyms!  According to the online legal dictionary by farlex,

Shall v. 1) an imperative command as in "you shall not kill." 2) In some statutes, "shall" is a direction but does not mean mandatory, depending on the context.

Growing up in my house shall was mandatory! Provided you relished living! We must not provide an out for this command from the Lord Jesus Christ, by suggesting that His words are not mandatory, that we can pick and choose our obedience the way some select food from a cafeteria line…I will have a little bit if commitment, not too much, a small scoop of discipline if you will…a full portion of love thank you very much, a smidgen of patience, I   am watching my weight after all! 

No, shall means shall….its an imperative!

The love of Jesus exampled on the cross is the compelling reason for our own devotion to Him!


Such devotion reminds me of the story of A certain medieval monk (The middle ages were from 5th century Ad until around the 16th century, approx: 1,000 years) announced he would be preaching the following Sunday evening on 

"The Love of God."

As the shadows fell and the light ceased to come in through the cathedral windows, the congregation gathered. In the darkness of the altar, the monk lighted a candle and carried it to the crucifix.  First of all, he illumined the crown of thorns, next, the two wounded hands, then the marks of the spear wound. In the hush that fell, he blew out the candle and left the chancel. There was nothing else to say. Source Unknown


The Lord Jesus Christ, the king of Kings. Lord of Lords, who purchased us with the cost of His very life…says “You shall love the Lord your God! There is nothing else for us to say, other than yes Lord! Our love effects it transforms, It engages… our

1.  Heart
2.  Our Souls 
3.  Our Minds…and
4.  Fellow human beings!
 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart.
The Greek word for heart in this passage is kardias. This word is defined as "the seat and center of human life" including ones "desires, feelings, affections, passions, impulses." (From The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament © 1992 by AMG International, Inc. Revised Edition, 1993) 
Do you love Him, like that? Others like that?

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