1Kings 8:58 - May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers.
What is the best expression of love you ever received?
As a young person, you might have started dating someone and they gave you flowers, or a kiss, or spent time with you and made you laugh. Maybe the ante grew as you got older and became more about presents, or special experiences, or themselves in marriage. Then when some get married, the most powerful expressions are either more costly (like jewelry, cars, big gifts), or often powerful efforts (like doing some chore/project, or taking care of you when you were sick). The best expressions of love to us often changes - but the one constant in all of those cases was you. You were the focus & attention of the expression.
God demonstrated His love for us in this, while we were still sinners, he continued to focus his love and attention on us, and sent Jesus to die in our place. His best expression of love may have been unnoticed by most people, but it was God's focus & attention on us that made it great.
So by accepting Jesus into our lives, we turn our focus & attention onto Him. It's our turn to lay down our lives out of love for Him. How do we do that? By showing God the love He deserves in serving & obeying what He wants. By turning our hearts to Him. Turning our hearts means desiring to relate, to draw closer, to follow His direction.
Often we look at obedience as doing what we HAVE to do in order to get what we WANT. But obedience is not just an action of the body, it is a passion of the heart. To truly obey means to turn our hearts toward someone - to WANT to do it for them - to give the person or authority our focus & attention.
Our best expression of love to our mate is to give them our focus & attention - by following in their ways, meeting their needs, serving their wishes. How much more when it comes to showing our expression of love to God for His greatest gift of love to us.
Choose today to find a way to express your love to God - to give Him your focus & attention. Don't dread obedience - embrace it out of love for your Lord. Turn your heart toward Him, and your hands will naturally follow.
What one way can you express your love to God today?
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