Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Deuteronomy 6:5 -- On Loving God

"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."
Deuteronomy 6:5


We're commanded to love God, but of course it is hard to feel emotions at will, especially if we need/want them to be sincere, as in this case. I don't think God here is asking us to do that though. We don't need to become actors and learn to fake it, or pull emotion out of the air... rather, I think he is giving us an important quest/goal, and asking us to figure it out, somewhat the way that God asked the Brother of Jared to figure out a certain problem.

I think we have the information we need to figure this one out. God has given us scriptures in part so that we can learn about him. He has given us prayer so that we can communicate with him. As we participate in both of those activities, we learn more and more about God and will be better able to feel his voice. And of course those are just the basics. We can learn to get closer to God through other things as well as we strive to feel the spirit and keep God's influence near.

Today, let's not give up on our quest because we think that we don't have the inclination or that God isn't revealing his will to us. Let's figure it out. Learning this primary commandment takes time and effort and investment, just as getting to know and learning to love someone else would. Let's make it a priority and stick with it, learning to talk to the Lord and to get to know him through his word, enriching our lives immeasurably in the process.

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