Loving God

Jesus in a response to the question on which commandment was the greatest did not even give one of the Ten Commandments but said "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind."  Matthew 22:37.   In my message on Sunday I asked this question in response to Loving God commandment.  If we are healthy what is this going to look like?  Unfortunately for many American Christians there are too few models to look at to know what loving God look like.  Our greatest mentor on this topic are the godly men and women of the Bible who choose to love God over and above all other things.  I am going to share just two for sake of space.  First, King David, he is called a man after God own heart.  David wrote the majority of Psalms which reflect a man who loved God with everything He had.  Psalm 27:4 "One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple."  vs. 8 "My heart says of you, 'seek His face!' Your face, Lord, I will seek".  There are many more verses in the Psalms that convey David's heart of being in pursuit of the God that he loved.  May we be in pursuit of the Lord with all of our heart, with all of our soul and with all of our mind. 
The second example is that of Mary, the mother of Jesus, she was a virgin when an angel of the Lord spoke to her heart.  After the angel explained to Mary what was going to happen this was her response, "I am the Lord's servant, May it be to me as you have said."  Within this simple response was a heart willing to allow the Lord to do whatever He wanted to do in here life.  During Mary's visit to Elizabeth she had a song and this is the first line, "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior." Luke 1:46-47.  Is this not a heart that is fully committed to allowing God to be God in their life.  Is this not an example that we ought to follow today.
Let us not allow the distractions of life and not allow the distractions of the Christmas season to hinder our first and greatest responsibility as a Christian which is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind.  May the God of all love and peace be with you.

Pastor John