19 "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,
20 by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."
This is life; love the Lord, obey His voice and hold fast to Him. I think of how many times I have not heeded these truths. Many times I have gotten off track. I allowed affection for other things to supplant my love for God. I listened to my voice and the voice of others around me more than I listened to God. I did not always hold fast to Him as I depended on my own resources many times to get me through tough stretches.
I read this passage yesterday and had to ask myself some tough questions. Do I really love the Lord? Do I listen to His voice so I will obey? Do I really hold fast to Him in all seasons?
I know I have the capacity to love God more than I do. That must be a lifelong quest. To continually increase in my affections for Him. Not only that but to love Him most. Matthew 22:36-38 (NASB)
36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"
37 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.'
38 "This is the great and foremost commandment. Revelation 2:2-5 (NASB)
2 'I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;
3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary.
4 'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
5 'Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.
We are called to truly love God supremely. To not do so is sin. Love for God is supposed to be our first love. Not second or third or further down the list. We are not to love anything or anyone more than we love God. So much of Christian living and service is done out of a sense of duty more than delight from loving the Lord. If we love the Lord we will want to please Him and we will want to know Him better.
We are also called to obey His voice. That means we are supposed to listen attentively. Are we listening? Do we keep an ear turned and tuned toward heaven day in and day out. Are we looking for and expecting Him to speak to us. He still speaks today. He speaks through His word. I wonder if we are truly listening. Then following through on what He commands is a whole other matter. Many know what they are supposed to do but just do not want to do it. God demands our obedience. 1 Samuel 15:21-22 (NASB)
21
"But the people took some of
the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to
sacrifice to the LORD your God at
Gilgal." 22 Samuel said, "Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
All our worship, Bible study and giving without obedience is not impressive to the Lord. He expects us to comply with His commands and to submit to His authority.
Finally, we are called to hold fast to Him. That means to cling to Him, to follow closely to Him and to remain stuck to Him. This speaks to passionate and deep communion with Him. We have to remain dependent upon Him. We have to remain in hot pursuit of Him for all of our days. We have to stay stuck to Him through every season of life.
All of this is really living. Many people are alive physically but dead spiritually and emotionally. God intends for us to experience so much more. In fact, Jesus offers us abundant life or, put another way, life to the full. That is living. That is the life we hope for. That is the life we were meant for.
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