Sunday, February 18, 2018
READ: Deuteronomy 6:4-13 is the passage for today's sermon. You're welcome to read that and meditate. Because the plan split up Luke 1 into two days, but I neglected to do so on the blog, we're going to resume Luke tomorrow.
MEDITATE on Deuteronomy 6:5, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." How do you show love to God?
REFLECT
A few days ago was a commercialized celebration of love. In our society today, there are discussions about how love is paramount and as long as you love someone wholeheartedly, the nature or choice of that relationship is not debatable. But that is NOT actually true. Our love is judged as to whether or not it is actually love. A husband cannot say that he loved his wife since he gave her some flowers one day while he ignores her the rest of the year. We would judge that as inadequate, as failing. Love actually has a standard.
But the trick is, like many of our values today, we base our standards on mankind's conception of the ideals. But we are fallen, we all fall short, so how can we believe our ideal is actually good enough. God fixes this quandry by showing us a perfect love through Jesus Christ. Love comes from God and is defined by a holy God, so our love is meant to be a reflection of a holy love. The standard for love is holiness.
Within your relationship with God, there is no way we can achieve this ideal. But God accepts us graciously and works within us to give us His love to reflect back to Him...and to others! So, how is your love toward God? As you grow in that area, your love to others will grow.
PRAY
Pray for refinement of your heart beginning with your relationship with God. How has your standard for loving God fallen short of His? Pray for a deeper appreciation of God's love as the bedrock for your love back to Him.
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