This week many will proclaim a new resolution for the coming year. I have made many in the past, but I have also broken many. I find the ability to keep a resolution is based on the value of that resolution. For instance, many times I have resolved to lose weight for the coming year. The value of that was usually based on how I looked or how I felt. My health should have been very important to me, but since I didn’t feel it would change the health of my body substantially, I rarely completed it. However, if a doctor were to tell me to lose 20 pounds this year or I
will die, I’m sure I would keep that resolution. Most of the resolutions we make at the beginning of the year are not life and death resolutions, therefore when we break them, it doesn’t alter our life very much. This year I challenge you to make a resolution that I believe is the greatest resolution of them all. This resolution will affect every area of your life and it was given by Jesus himself to us.
Matthew 22:37-38 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.”
If we keep Jesus’ words in Matthew 22:37-38, everything we do will be subject to what God desires for us. We will seek His wisdom and His approval before we make decisions. Many say they love God more than anything, but words do not necessarily dictate what is in the heart. To love Him with all our heart demands that our affections are supremely on Him. He is before any other person or thing. When Jesus speaks about loving Him with all our souls, it is referring to our life. Many have given their lives for Christ. In Acts chapter 7, Stephen was the first martyr mentioned. He was willing to give his life rather than denounce Christ. Many still today face death if they will not deny Christ. I have thought about this often, and have meditated on it to prepare myself to stand strong for Christ. Another aspect that I believe would be harder, would be the threat to my family if I didn’t deny Him. For me, this would be the most challenging, but if I love Christ above everything and everyone else, the decision is already made.
We are to love Him with all our minds. This is a submission of my thinking to please Him. When what I think conflicts, with or is questionable, according to His word, then I will lay my thinking aside and submit to Him. It will not be a submission with the attitude of dismay because I feel like I am giving up something I would enjoy, but a joyful attitude of pleasing Him. We are to love Him so much that everything about us reflects Him.
This is a very tall order given by Jesus in Matthew 22, but it is the standard we must achieve if we are going to be successful in our love for God. He will not accept second place. He does not want us to have anything that we love more than we love Him.
Deuteronomy 6:5 “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
Take some time today and think about different situations where your love for God may be challenged. If you don’t pass the test, determine you will get to know Him better in the coming year. The more you know Him the more you will love Him.
