Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your heart.
Deuteronomy 6:5f.

Moses had given the people of Israel the laws of God. They were to keep these words so that it would go well with them and God could bless them without restrictions.  But the most important thing was love. God loved His people, everyone knew that. HE took them out of Egypt, freed them from slavery and led them through the Red Sea.  He fed them with water and bread from Heaven in the desert. But God also wanted this people to love and honour Him, to be there for Him and to have His Word in their hearts.
For us Christians, this desire of God applies in exactly the same way: we are to love Him with all our strength and His Word is to be written in our hearts. There shall be no more compromises, because out of fear of God we can no longer live the way the world lives: incurring debts and not paying, cheating and lying in business, all for the sake money. Then our goals will be different to wanting a new couch, expensive travels, luxuries and prosperity, as if our life here will last forever. Then God’s acceptance of us and our actions will be  the most important thing. Then we won’t need to hide from Him like Adam and Eve after they committed the first sin. Then we will have free access to our Heavenly Father, and HE to our heart. Then He will pamper us and make miracles happen so that we will be well. He wants to dwell with His people and bless them beyond measure.
But we as Christians are often not doing so well. This is often because we do not love the Lord with all our heart, do His will with all our soul and strength. We live our own lives and pray that God will bless them. But that is simply too little.
I think of Mary who sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to Him. I think of John leaning on Jesus’ shoulder at the Last Supper, and I think of Mary pouring the precious oil over Jesus’ feet, wetting them with tears and drying them with her hair. Where are our small and great deeds of love for Jesus? I fear we count too much.
Take your time today, about 10 – 15 minutes. And then start telling Him how much you love Him. How much you enjoy being with Him. How you appreciate the fellowship. Sing Him a love song. Or read Him a psalm. But tell Him that you love Him. And repeat that 365 times. Then you will be a different person.

Thank You, Father in Heaven, for loving me so much! And I want to love You because You are so wonderful, because You are faithful to me, because You make me righteous, because You don’t count my guilt against me, because You provide for me ….. because I am Your beloved child!!!! Thank You!!!