When He Blesses

This week has been a full one... preparing to preach in another week or so... applying for jobs... following up with previous job applications... etc. To be honest, today didn't feel that profitable. I felt like I wasted hours looking for jobs that were not there. I wanted to get the lawn mowed, but it was raining. I'm sure I could have used my time a bit better today. I think I spent too much time "thinking" and not enough time "doing". Had a great time in the Word throughout the day today, but found myself frustrated by the lack of things that I actually got done. I'm thankful that His mercies are new every morning.

I was reading in Deuteronomy 6 earlier and verses 5 through 12 really caught my attention.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Then it shall come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, then watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

This command to love God with all our heart, soul, and might is well known. It's simple and straight forward, but is it reality? Are we letting those words slip by our minds and leaving them on the "to do someday" list, or are we striving to do it now. This command is to be central to everything we do. We are commanded to teach this command diligently to those we are responsible for. We ought to be considering this when we are hanging out at home, when we are in the car or walking around, when we go to bed and when we wake up. This command is to be so central to our daily living that we post it places where we will see it all the time. Do you know why it is so important? When He blesses us beyond what we can imagine, we naturally forget Him. We take the credit for the blessings... we love the creation rather than the creator... we forsake Him. God commands us to continually put reminders in front of us to love God with absolutely everything in us so that we live in a Christ-centered manner regardless of how much He blesses us. I am confident that this is one of the lessons He wants me to learn before He blesses me with a new job. I must love Him with with all my heart... no more battles between the things of this world and Him... He must win in my heart! With all my soul... every thought, attitude, action must be a reflection of my love for Him. With all my might... absolutely every ounce of strength I have must be used to love Him. I can live daily life, doing the normal daily tasks and still love Him in this way. It is completely do-able... He commands it! By His grace, I will love Him with all that is within me.