Love the Lord with All Your Heart

The first date I had with my husband was at a roller rink. After that first date I couldn't wait until I would see or hear from him again. When I would hear his voice on the phone or see him standing at my front door I was so very happy. It seemed it was never enough. The more time I spent with him, I wanted to spend more time with him. I could never spend enough time with him. It lead to marriage so that we could spend our lives together. By the way, I still love to spend time with him.

I am sure many of you have had that same experience. When you really love someone, you want to spend time with them and get to know them even better.

Our relationship to the Lord is similar or should be. We are told in Deuteronomy 6: 5,6 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart." This passage comes just after receiving the ten commandments. It goes on to talk of our responsibility to teach our children these things as well.

How can you love someone without spending time with them to know them? Psalm 119 is one of the most fitting passages to make that point. The writer of this psalm knew the intimacy and the joy of spending time with the Lord. We do it by being in His word. In verse 77 he says "Your law is my delight." In verse 97 he says "Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day." In verse 105 he says "Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light to may path." Psalm 119 has 176 verses and all speak of the excellencies of the word of God in our lives.

My son says it is "the analogy of an iv in a sick person's arm -- if i'm not hooked to the drip the life slowly drains out of me... gotta be tapped into the spirit all day...." I guarantee that the one who just shows up in church most Sundays and reads scripture using the overhead will never experience this bond of intimacy. It is true that the more time you spend in the word, the more time you want to spend. The more you know Christ, the more you want to know Him and you do come to that place where you cannot stay away from being hooked up to the drip - it is your lifeline. It would be like a person who abuses drugs - the more you take the more you want and in this case you are not satisfied. But with the word of God as the psalmist says "I will never forget your precepts for by them You have given me life." (v. 93)

God's word is my lifeline. It keeps me focused on Him in the tough times. It keeps me joyful when circumstances are not. It brings me comfort and I feel protected. I understand that there are times of illness or emotional weakness in our bodies which keeps us from being able to be close to the word. That is why it is important that in our healthy times and stable times as we hide His word in our heart He will sustain us in the difficult times. Psalm 119 is broken into 22 sections. Starting tomorrow I encourage you to read one section and meditate on the excellencies of His word for you. Let's be able to say we love the Lord with all of our hearts, our soul and our strength!