Why do you love God?
Hello Bride of Christ,
Why do you love God and desire to follow His commands? As the world grows more accepting of all behaviors, attitudes, and lifestyles, why do you continue to follow God’s Word and rules? God foresaw the need for the answer to this question. God knew the answer would sustain the inquired and challenge the inquirer.
After delivering the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel, Moses, the Old Testament prophet shared a mandate in preparation for crossing over into the land of Promise.
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! 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 should be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, 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 6:4-9
Moses commanded them to love God with their entire beings (heart, soul, and might), to teach their children about God throughout the day, and to create reminders (signs) of this love in their work, allow it to protect what they see, and in the entryway of their home and city gates make visible to all this commitment. Keeping this command set Israel apart, for their entire existence displayed reverence of God and serving Him. God knew questions would arise for this unique way of life as time and distance turned the deliverance from Egypt into a mere story passed down by Grandma and Grandpa.
“When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded you?’ “ Deuteronomy 6:20
God equipped these peculiar people through Moses with an answer.
“Then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; and the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers. And the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.” Deuteronomy 6:21-25
Moses' encouraged the parents to reveal God’s character to their children:
Deliver: Where and what God had delivered them from (Deuteronomy 6:21);
Mighty: What mighty works God utilized (Deuteronomy 6:22);
Faithful: How God kept His promise (Deuteronomy 6:23);
Authority: Why God asks for observance of His statutes and reverence towards Him (Deuteronomy 6:24 - 25);
Bride of Christ, God knows loving Him with all our heart, mind, and strength brings about questioning. He knows during times of trouble we might question ourselves. As He equipped the children of Israel to answer their children, He equips the New Testament saints with Peter’s writing, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;” 1 Peter 3:15. Let us draw from Moses’ and Peter’s encouragement when we are questioned: Why do you love God?
Sanctify, set the Lord apart in your heart by revealing God’s character through acknowledging God’s response to your deepest need. Defend, tell what God has saved you from, how He did it, His faithfulness towards you, and the freedom found in loving God with your whole self. Declare your hope found in His character for it remains the same through the ages. As the Holy Spirit inspired scripture so fitly states we love Him because He first loved us. And may this truth impart grace to your inquirer.
