Are you reading the Bible through with me? Grab your pen and journal, and get ready to write your thoughts as you journey through the Bible.
Today read Deuteronomy 12-15. These short chapters focus on loving the Lord and keeping His commandments.
In chapter 13, verse 4, God tells Israel to follow Him, fear Him, obey Him, listen to Him, worship Him, and remain faithful to Him. The instructions are very clear.
Those instructions are not just for the Israelites…they pertain to us today as well.
Many people say they believe in God and love him, but that isn’t exactly true.
If you love the Lord your God, you will honor and respect Him. Just saying the words is not enough. Your life must show it, too. Verbal expression is hollow if the lifestyle you live does not support your words.
In the New Testament, Jesus put it this way for us: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments,” (John 14:15). If we really and truly love Him, we will honor and respect Him. But the real proof of both is obedience to what His word says.
It’s easy to SAY you love God. But the real proof is how your language, lifestyle, priorities and values reflect His control of your life.
To have a close relationship with God means that we must show Him that He is first in our lives.
It’s hard to follow the Lord when everyone around you doesn’t. For many, it is easier to just follow the crowd and go with the flow. But that isn’t what God commanded. If we love Him, we are to prove it by the way we live and act.
In your journal, write this question and then write your answer to it.
“If others were asked if you love the Lord your God with all your being, what would they say and how would they know?”
Next, write ways that you can better show your love for God in your behavior to the people around you.
PRAY: Lord, help me to be a doer of Your word as well as a hearer and reader. Holy Spirit, I pray that You would help me to apply every truth of the scriptures to my own life before I use it to measure anyone else. Lord, fill me with Your presence so that others might know that You are my first love and the Source of my hope. Help me to glorify You in every part of my life.
