God doesn't want you serving Him only because you are supposed to. He wants you serving Him because you love Him. -Tony Evans
Do you love God? I mean do you REALLY love God? Naturally, you are reading this and saying to yourself, “Of course I do!” I hope you do because God’s greatest commandment is that we love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind (Deuteronomy 6:5).
While our love for Him might be up for debate, His love for us is undeniable. Throughout the bible, there are various scriptures of God confessing His love for us. In Jeremiah 31:3 God says, "I love you with an everlasting love.” I can go on and on listing scriptures but I am not because I want to get back to the main question. Again, I ask, “Do you love God?
God’s greatest desire is that we love and seek Him above everyone and everything in our lives. God wants a personal relationship with all of us. Going to church every Sunday is not the same thing as having a personal relationship with God. You can go to church five days out of the week and still not know God. God wants you to seek Him outside the church walls.
This week during my private devotional time with God He illuminated this scripture to me, “I don’t want your sacrifices—I want your love; I don’t want your offerings—I want you to know me” (Hosea 6:6). God is tired of our surface relationship with Him. He wants us to know Him more intimately, seek Him deeper.
So you ask, how do I demonstrate my love for Him? I am glad you asked! First, by spending quality time with Him daily. How can you say love someone but never spend any time with? We say we love God but we never spend any time with Him. God wants us to seek His presence continuously (1 Chronicles 16:11). In other words, every single day! Every day set time aside to spend time with God. What you do during that time is between you and Him.
Another way you can express your love to God is through consistent and persistent prayer. Understand, God loves our prayers. The Word tells us He delights in our prayers (Proverbs 15:8). He loves when we pray to Him because prayer is how we communicate with Him. That is why we are instructed to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17)!
The next way is to mediate on His Word day and night. Reading the bible should be part of your daily spiritual regimen. God wants us to be like King David! In Psalm 119:97 King David said, “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” To know God is to know His Word because in His Word is your instructions for this life.
The last and most important way to show God you love is through continually worship and praise of Him! Just like God delights in our prayers, He also delights in our praise. People that really love God praise Him and worship all the time. God is so worthy of our praise! Bless the Lord at times!
Every day the “eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” ( 2 Chronicles 16:9). Are God’s eyes on you? God wants to strengthen you, He wants to bless you, but He can only do if your heart is committed to Him. Is your heart committed to Him? Today I extend the invitation to you to draw closer to God. God doesn’t want your sacrifice. He wants your love. He wants you to get to know Him. Today make the choice to love Him-for real. He is looking for you. Seek Him. Love Him.
You want to deepen your love for God? Pray this prayer daily when you rise! This is prayer from my E-book, 17 Days of Praying The Word!
I love you Lord with all my heart, soul and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5). Thank you for always thinking of me and loving me unconditionally (Jeremiah 31:3). I am so grateful that nothing and no one can separate me from Your love (Romans 8:38). God, even when I was a sinner, You demonstrated Your infinite love for me by having Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ died on the Cross for my sins (John 3:16). Lord, thank You for loving me. I Love You Lord because You first loved me.
In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.
I Love You Lord because You first loved me.
