Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Confession of Sin: Line Six

“We have not loved you with our whole heart.”

How true this is! Do any of us truly love Him with our whole heart, our whole mind, soul and body? Who are our “gods?” What are our “gods” that we place before God?

I suspect our first thought is that we have no other gods before Him. But what about your schedule? When do you have your devotions or is your schedule so crowded that your devotion and prayer times are squeezed out? Has your activities, your job become your god?

Or what about the evening the Holy Spirit prompted you to spend time in the Word and prayer but it was _______________ night (you fill in the blank) and ______________________ (your favorite TV show) was on? Did you give up your show or did you love it more than spending time with God?

Maybe God laid it on your heart to give extra above your tithe but there was a new pair of shoes or a new computer game that cost the exact amount that God said to give. Did you love God with your whole heart or did you love that new pair of shoes or new computer game more?

When we love God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind we desire to be obedient. But more than that, we desire to be close to God – as close as we can get. Intimate, personal, open, honest relationship – no holds barred. We are so in tune with Him that we don’t want anything nor do we allow anything to come between us. Is this an impossible task? No, but it is incredibly challenging because we are human and we are pulled in a thousand different directions every day.

LeAnn Payne wrote a fantastic book called “Practice the Presence.” The entire book is summed up in the title – practicing the presence of God all the time – 24/7/365. This is not to say that all of us should leave our jobs and enter into a convent or Christian community. If we did that, who would be His light in the world? Who would witness to the unsaved?

But how much better a witness we would present if we practice the presence of God 24/7/365 and if we loved Him with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind.

1 comment:

quietspirit said...

Edwina:
You make some good points here. Our cable box on our TV is out. I have had a good week in spite of not being able to see some of my favorite shows. God has shown me so much because I chose to spend time with Him.