Give Your Whole Self!
"You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, with all your
soul, and with all your strength."
Deuteronomy 6: 5
In Jewish worship, the Shema is the most
important prayer. Shema is the transliteration
of the first Hebrew word in Deuteronomy 6:4,
translated as “hear”: “Hear, O Israel:
The Lord our God, the Lord is one!”
The entire prayer of Deuteronomy 6:4-9
was given as an instruction by Moses to
remind the Israelites of
the importance to
order their lives according to God’s laws.
When a teacher of the law asked Jesus which
was the most important of the commandments,
He quoted Deuteronomy 6:4-5: “Hear, O Israel
you shall love the Lord your God” with
all your
heart, soul, and strength.
This commandment is so all-encompassing.
Heart, soul, and strength is the way of saying
one’s whole self; love God with all your being.
Paul’s exhortation to be a “living sacrifice”
to
God is the same idea (Romans 12:1).
Is there any part of your life today
that
doesn’t reflect love for God? Ask Him to
make you sensitive to ways to love Him
more.
"A man’s spiritual health
is exactly proportional to
his love for God."
C. S. Lewis
