Loving God
This week I read a line by John Piper which said, "The essence of praising Christ is prizing Christ." One thing that I love about John is that he's always asking to be proven correct or incorrect by the Scriptures. In an attempt to find the truthfulness of this statement, I began looking for verses that would confirm or deconstruct this truth.
Does God want to be prized? What does it even mean to be prized?
According to Merriam-Webster it means to esteem, to highly value, to appreciate. If you asked me what it meant to be prized, I would say something similar, and may even equate it to love.
In that vein I stumbled across numerous Scriptures in which God Himself tells us to love Him.
Examples:
Deuteronomy 30:16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
Joshua 22:5 But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul."
Joshua 23:10 One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised. 11 So be very careful to love the LORD your God.
Matthew 22:36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment.
Mark 12:29"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'
'No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him'
This love that we are called to have glorifies, exalts, and delights God, but also delights and rewards us (funny how that works). Almost like a good marriage - how fun is it to have mutual delight instead of unrequited love?
I digress...
Point being, when I came across those verses, I was convicted. Sure I love God and I have been doing all the things "Christians" do - going to church, praying, not saying dirty words in public, etc :), but in all sincerity, the last few months I have been so busy and tired, that I have allowed my LOVE for God, my esteem for Him, my treasuring of Him to wane.
You see, love must be maintained. It doesn't always progress naturally - we get distracted, sidetracked, and/or deceived from what is best for us. Even with my husband, my love is increased when I purposefully get to know him better, seek to please him, spend time with him, surprise him, enjoy him, am intimate with him, etc.
So it is with God.
Being the practical person that I am, I came up with a list of things that by God's grace I am hoping will increase my love for God...Maybe it will be of some service to you.
Ideas for fanning into flame my love of God:
- practice confession of up to date and specific sin to others (particularly Daryl and the girls I meet with for accountability)
- keep bad things that will corrupt my heart out (lately we've been watching a lot of TV at night so for me this means I limit this and spend more evenings watching/listening to sermons together, talking, reading books that encourage us towards intimacy with God)
- put good things in (play more praise music during the day; be consistent with quiet times; again, read more encouraging books [the ones I have currently are "Evangelism & The Sovereignty of God" by Packer and "Shopping for Time" by the Mahaney Girls - feel free to ask me how I'm coming on those!])
- pray more
Already these things have helped, and I am hoping that if you have any more good suggestions you will please pass them on!
Happy loving!
Does God want to be prized? What does it even mean to be prized?
According to Merriam-Webster it means to esteem, to highly value, to appreciate. If you asked me what it meant to be prized, I would say something similar, and may even equate it to love.
In that vein I stumbled across numerous Scriptures in which God Himself tells us to love Him.
Examples:
Deuteronomy 30:16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
Joshua 22:5 But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul."
Joshua 23:10 One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised. 11 So be very careful to love the LORD your God.
Matthew 22:36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment.
Mark 12:29"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'
I'll explain in more detail later why it is not completely vain and selfish for God to ask us to love Him, but for now, consider 1 Corinthians 2:9, "However, as it is written:
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him'
This love that we are called to have glorifies, exalts, and delights God, but also delights and rewards us (funny how that works). Almost like a good marriage - how fun is it to have mutual delight instead of unrequited love?
I digress...
Point being, when I came across those verses, I was convicted. Sure I love God and I have been doing all the things "Christians" do - going to church, praying, not saying dirty words in public, etc :), but in all sincerity, the last few months I have been so busy and tired, that I have allowed my LOVE for God, my esteem for Him, my treasuring of Him to wane.
You see, love must be maintained. It doesn't always progress naturally - we get distracted, sidetracked, and/or deceived from what is best for us. Even with my husband, my love is increased when I purposefully get to know him better, seek to please him, spend time with him, surprise him, enjoy him, am intimate with him, etc.
So it is with God.
Being the practical person that I am, I came up with a list of things that by God's grace I am hoping will increase my love for God...Maybe it will be of some service to you.
Ideas for fanning into flame my love of God:
- practice confession of up to date and specific sin to others (particularly Daryl and the girls I meet with for accountability)
- keep bad things that will corrupt my heart out (lately we've been watching a lot of TV at night so for me this means I limit this and spend more evenings watching/listening to sermons together, talking, reading books that encourage us towards intimacy with God)
- put good things in (play more praise music during the day; be consistent with quiet times; again, read more encouraging books [the ones I have currently are "Evangelism & The Sovereignty of God" by Packer and "Shopping for Time" by the Mahaney Girls - feel free to ask me how I'm coming on those!])
- pray more
Already these things have helped, and I am hoping that if you have any more good suggestions you will please pass them on!
Happy loving!
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