Devotion by Pastor Audrey Ng
Mark 12:30 is a verse we are all familiar with: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.
Jesus was in a debate with some Sadducees regarding people being raised from the dead. One of them asked Jesus which commandment was the most important to Him. Jesus gave His answer from Deuteronomy 6.
From Deuteronomy 6, we know that there are no other gods besides our one true God. Deuteronomy 11:13-14 tells us what to do with that knowledge: we are to love God with all that is in us.
Deuteronomy 11:13-14 (NCV) says, “If you carefully obey the commands I am giving you today and love the Lord your God and serve Him with your whole being, then He will send rain on your land at the right time, in the fall and spring, and you will be able to gather your grain, new wine, and oil.”
We are to love and serve God with our whole being—all that is in us and every part of us. When we give ourselves completely to God, He can make us completely whole.
I Thessalonians 5:23 (MSG)
May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ.
James 4:8a (NASB)
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
God wants to be close to you and have a relationship with you. How can we draw near to God?
Jerermiah 29:13 (NCV) says that when “You will search for Me. And when you search for Me with all your heart, you will find Me!”
So firstly …
- GOD WANTS YOUR HEART
The book of Joel describes how the enemies of Israel wanted to take over them and attack them like locusts; a big grey cloud of ugly grasshoppers that destroy everything in their path. And Joel 2:12 (NLT) says, “That is why the Lord says, “Turn to Me now, while there is time. Give Me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”
How do we turn to God? We turn back to God when we give Him our hearts.
The love that you can possibly feel from your heart for anybody or anything, God wants you to give that to Him.
So we’ve establish that God wants our hearts, but how do we give Him our hearts?
- LET GOD CLEANSE YOUR HEART
There’s a reason our relationship with God begins with forgiveness.
God is a Holy God; He is perfect, pure and spotless. There is no trace of anything evil or wrong anywhere in God’s being. So to have a relationship with God, we have to likewise be spotless and pure.
As we were all sinners, we were all headed to eternal death. But Jesus chose to die in our place and broke the power of sin and death. By doing so, He has cleansed our hearts. Jesus came to give us forgiveness and a relationship with God.
Colossians 1:13-14 (NCV)
God has freed us from the power of darkness, and He brought us into the kingdom of His dear Son. The Son paid for our sins, and in Him we have forgiveness.
Without forgiveness of sin, a relationship with Jesus would not be possible at all. Now that your heart has been made clean, God can be a part of your life and live in your heart.
In conclusion, let us walk this journey with the Lord by giving Him our hearts and allowing Him to cleanse our hearts. As we do that, we can walk in assurance that God is ever near us and as we seek Him with all our hearts, we will find Him.