“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”   Deuteronomy 6:5-8 NKJV

Have you ever been in love? I’m talking about that doe-eyed, can’t wait to see them and talk to them kind of love. Have you ever felt the kind of love where they are your everything and you can’t possibly imagine them not being in your life?

I want you to imagine feeling that kind of love for someone and telling them you love them. Imagine their response being, “I love you, but…” Perhaps they may say that they love you but, they also love going out with their friends on Saturday night so they will not be giving that up. Maybe they say they love you but, they also love football so they won’t be giving up college football on Saturday,  pro games on Sunday, and Monday night football. Maybe they say they love you but, they don’t want to be tied down in a monogamous relationship. When we love someone with all our heart, we don’t want to hear, “I love you, but…” When we have unconditional, undying love for someone we want them to reciprocate that love.

Now I want you to imagine that you are willing to die for someone. You are in a situation where it is you or them and you are ready and willing to give your life for that person. When they are questioned as to whether they will do the same, they look at you and say, “I love you, but I’m not ready to die for you.”

Many of us have similar conversations with Jesus each and every day whether we know it or not. Our actions speak louder than our words. We love Him, but we are just not willing to give up our old ways. We love Him but we are not willing to forego our Sundays lounging around in our pajamas to go into His house and worship Him. We love him, but we are not willing to give up our late nights on Saturday so that we can be in church on Sunday morning. We love him, but we are not willing to give up sin in our life. Reread our scripture passage today. God is telling the Israelites what He expects from them. He has brought them out of slavery in Egypt and through the wilderness. Just a little side note, it took them 40 years to make a trip which should have taken 14 days. It took so long because of their continued patterns of disobedience, just sayin’. Anyway, they are finally about to enter into the Land that He has promised them and He is letting them know what He expects of them. He wants them to love Him with all they have. He wants them to understand the importance of His commands and wants them to diligently teach them to their children. This is the most important thing your children will ever learn. He wants them to constantly be thinking about Him and His commands. We are told that when we walk in the Spirit, we will not satisfy the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). He tells them to focus on God and His commands and talk about them throughout the day. He tells them to make them the forefront of all they do. He tells them to keep them on their doorpost and on their gates.

I keep scripture passages throughout my house. I once had someone walk into my house and say, “Wow, you have a lot of Jesus in here.” My mom did the same thing. As I walk through or sit around my house, I want to be reminded of my commitment to Him and His promises to me. I want to have a reciprocal relationship with Him. I don’t want to be all take and no give. He blesses me and I want to honor Him. I love Him and there are no buts, not anymore. There used to be lots of buts. There was a lot of things I was not willing to give up for Him, but that just didn’t work out so well for me.

I can assure you that I have not missed those lazy Sunday mornings or those where I caught up on work. I have not missed intentional sin in my life. I have received so much more from Him.

I am so thankful that Jesus didn’t say, “I love you, but I’m not willing to die for a miserable sinner like you.” He’s all in.  Are you?

Have a great day!