How Much Should We Love God?
Let's never forget that He's the One who is calling the shots. We need to find from Scripture what love God is expecting of us.
Most of us in the "West" have grown up in a society where "absolutes" are seriously challenged. We've now come to the place were some would have us to believe there are no absolutes. This kind of humanistic thinking is bad enough outside Christianity, however this concept seeks to corrupt God's people today! The Bible is full of absolutes because it's the absolute Word of the Absolute God. We dare not turn a deaf to truths of God's Word regarding how absolute He is regarding our love for Him. God is so absolute about this subject that it can seem to be extreme. "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind." (Mt. 22:37) How much of our heart does He want? All of it! How much of our soul does He require? All of it! How much of our mind does He demand? All of it! Without trying to sound too simplistic can I ask the question, "How much is all?" Absolutely everything! 100%! Is that too much to ask? If it seems to be, then we need to ask ourselves the question, "who is it we're dealing with?" This kind of demand is absolutely reasonable because it comes from Him, our Creator and Savior!
Let's listen to the words of Jesus. Mt. 10: 37-39 - If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. 38 If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. 39 If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will find it. We need to stop right here and seriously think about what we've just read. In fact, it's a good place to stop and pray about what we have just read. "Lord grant us the spiritual courage to receive what you are saying here".
Does God really mean what He's saying here? Have the Bible translators got it wrong? Let's go back to the original Greek! In this verse we get exactly what we see. God means exactly what He said. Make no mistake, as a Christian, God is making an absolute demand on the love He has placed in your heart. He is not prepared to share it with anyone or anything. The old King James Version of the Bible makes this revelation about God in Ex 34:14 - For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: The NLT says the same thing in different wording. Ex 34:14 - You must worship no other gods, but only the LORD, for he is a God who is Ex 34:14 - You must worship no other gods, but only the LORD, for he is a God who is passionate about his relationship with you. What we can glean from these verses is the fact that the God of the New Testament is making the same love demands as the God of the Old Testament. Why? Because He's the same God and He never changes. He is passionate about His relationship with His people. He does not treat this relationship as glib or casual. His is a serious relationship that has been established through the precious life blood of Jesus Christ. God doesn't treat it lightly and He doesn't expect us to either!
