May 23, 2011

"LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART..." - Deu. 6:5

Bless Moses' heart...he had a real problem on his hands.  This man had been raised in privilege, fled after killing one of his own people and now had risked his life to rescue an enslaved people, only to have them decide worshipping a golden calf was more satisfying than the God who had provided their freedom!  You can just see him looking to the heavens and saying "why me, Lord?"!  But the God who had spoken to him face-to-face and had given him a set of Ten Commandments, wanted Moses to teach these people what real freedom was:  to honor and trust the ONE TRUE GOD only and with all their being.

One of my favorite stories is about a little girl who had been able to buy a cheap dimestore set of pearls.  She loved her pearls; they made her feel dressed up and special.  Every night her daddy came in to read her a story.  When he finished, he would tell her he loved her and asked if she would give him her pearls.  Every night she assured him she loved him, but could she give him something else, not her pearls.  This happened night after night.  Finally, one night he went in and she tearfully handed over her pearls with head bowed down.  Her kind daddy reached into his pocket and brought out a strand of beautiful, genuine pearls.  He had the real thing to give her but she held on to the cheap imitation.  Isn't that what we do...we hold onto to status...possessions...power...money...family?  We have loved the world and its cheap toys, when the Lord offers us the real thing.

Howard Hendricks says: "First I make my decisions, then my decisions make me."  Who/what you love is a decision.  Decide today to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."

For further study:  Exodus 20:1-17, Psam 89:6-18, Jeremiah 2:19, Matt. 6:24,  Mark 12:29-31, Romans 1:24-32, 1 Tim 6:10,1 John 2:15-17

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,
Holly

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