With All
Did you ever do something half-heartedly? Are you a multi-tasker? Highly skilled in working on two or 20 things at once?
Reading in Deuteronomy, there are a number of places where we are told to do something with ALL of our effort and resources. In fact, when I checked, the NIV cited 167 times when God told the people to give/use/apply/commit ALL.
All is not always a command, however, with God, all is also a promise.
Deuteronomy 12:28
Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the LORD your God.
Sometimes, I fall into the trap that I need to do more for me and I try and split my time between my responsibilities and my ‘me’ things. It is OK to have ‘me’ things. There has to be some recovery time from the burdens of this world. Even God instituted time for rest and time specifically dedicated to Him. The problem, for me, arises when I try to use my responsibility time for me or my God time for responsibilities. I never seem to have the rest time and nothing is ever truly done well.
Deuteronomy 12:28 is a verse with a command and a promise. It is a lesson for us that God has a plan.
Have you ever said to your child, “Finish your supper and then you may have dessert.” or “Once your work is done you may play.”?
Just like we have practical, healthy expectations of our children, God has a plan for us. He knows that if we obey Him and if we love Him, He will be able to bless us abundantly and we will be able to have such a rich relationship with Him that the effort will be small in comparison.
As parents, God has given us specific instructions for child rearing. People often bemoan the fact that children do not come with instruction manuals but I think that they do – the Bible.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on the children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.
God tells us to love Him with all. All means everything. Next, he tells us to teach Him to our children, to help them to know Him, to impress Him upon their hearts. Just in case we did not understand all, He explains when: sitting, walking, laying, standing, at home, out and about. To emphasize, He tells us to ‘tie’ His teaching to our feet, bind them (like a sticky note?) to our foreheads, and write them on the door frames of our houses and on our gates. I don’t think He missed anything.
In loving our God and in teaching our children to love Him, we need to give Him everything. His Word gives us situational instructions for work, home, relationships, parenting, money and even rest.
As you start your day, commit to first loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Watch and see the amazing things that He has in store for you.
Luke 10:27
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.'”