“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” – Deuteronomy 6:5

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” – Matthew 22:3

TO INCESSANTLY CONVERSE about the things of God and the scriptures ‘allegedly’ indicates psychological disorder. While such an observation carries some weight of truth, there can also be serious error in jumping to conclusions. There are two possible categories of people involved: one may well be cerebrally impaired, while the other is mentally equilibrated; one acutely imbalanced in their perception of reality, the other spiritually healthy. Alarmingly, many who insinuate that a certain individual exhibiting unusual interest in God is unstable, actually may well indeed be the ones who are out of sink with God, no matter how spiritually intact they appear.

Though there is slight variation in both of the above scriptures they imply exactly the same command. Many are inclined to disregard much of the Old Testament, assuming it to be an outdated stipulation that was confined to the nation of Israel under the ‘Old Covenant’ and rule of a harsh God. Amazingly we find Jesus expounding the law that brings a final hopelessness to man’s self righteousness: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them” (Matthew 5:17). Jesus made it emphatically clear that sin is committed spiritually not just physically: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment…” (verse 21-22); “…everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery” (verse 28); You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” (verse 43-44). Where we assume that Jesus administered to us a ‘lighter’ or ‘revamped’ version or of the law only shows our misunderstanding of the gospel and our desperate need of it.

The greatest commandment is not to “go into all the world and make disciples of all nations…”; it is a great commission but not the highest and foremost. Anyone can more or less go into all the nations and do a ‘good deed’ as ambassadors of a christ; don’t think for one moment that every missionary is regenerate and on their way to heaven – no matter how great the work is (Matthew 7:21-23). The utmost and supreme requirement of all is to love God with every fibre of our being – “IF you love Me, you will carry out what I ask of you…” (John 14:15). To love God means that He takes pre-eminence in our lives; He is not just some kind of ‘plug-in-container’ to make us more vivacious and productive in life for our own ends; our concern for the glory of God ought to be the background of all our motives from sun up to sun down, everything else lies subordinate to that grand motive. Of course that does not imply that our love for God never falters and weakens, but it certainly does mean that if any one of us are ‘out of sink’ with God, we are not at rest until we are walking uprightly with God and our communion with Him is unhindered. This is not in reference to our standing justified before God, but rather our obedience to Him as His redeemed children.

Sport, hunting, military, movies and barbecue’s are the main ‘heart throbs’ of American culture that preoccupy most of our time and energy – do they not? Leonard Ravenhill said, “The king of America is called sport and his wife is called entertainment.” “Let’s not get ridiculous” some may say, “let’s be sensible now and have balance.” No! Let’s be spiritually sensible for once and refrain from justifying ourselves with pathetic excuses. For other things to be of greater fascination to us (as Christians) means we have seriously diverted from the ways of God, no matter how impeccable our theology is and how many doctrinal debates we may win; the devil is a greater theologian than all of us put together, but no amount of knowledge will ever alter his eternal destiny.

Popular Christianity, that is favourable to our modern culture, likes to ‘attach’ God to its profession as a safety mechanism that accounts for any unforeseen mishaps. Sequentially, many are content to talk a little about God (to salve their conscience) only to get it over and done with at an impressive rate and resume what really engages their passion.

When revival engulfed Wales in 1904, the nation was shook to its very roots. Public houses were almost empty that triggered the expiration of many businesses; football stadiums were practically unoccupied; crime rates fell significantly; new churches had to be built to meet the innumerable influx of new converts. Lives were dramatically changed; drunks became sober in moments; blasphemers were transformed; many were profoundly concerned about their souls. Why? Because God – not man – got their attention and nothing else was worthy of their focus; everything else was trivial in comparison to the acute awareness of Almighty God, Who came very near and walked among its people, driving many to their knees because of the awesomeness of His power and majesty.

Thousands upon thousands of people were awestruck at the reality of God, Whose presence captivated their hearts, time and talk; no amount of time spent with others who continually conversed about God could slake their thirst – they yearned for more. It wasn’t out of obligation or fear; they couldn’t help but talk about God, read His word and pray till early hours of the morning – sometime with no sleep at all. Fanatical? Many have a problem with others being over-zealous about God, but when it comes to sport, money, food and drink, weaponry and politics – it takes on another plateau; there you’ll see where their real treasure is.

Activities only become a snare when they preside over and above our First Love – Jesus Christ. Many who profess to be Christian seriously need to quit pretending and be honest for their own sakes. Either we are serious about God and He is Lord of our lives or we are spiritual frauds. There is no middle ground. There is something radically wrong with many who profess to be Christian yet show more enthusiasm for interests of a secular nature. When God has touched your life, NOTHING comes near to it – I don’t care what it is. Once you’ve tasted God, NOTHING else satisfies. Do we really understand the implications of that? If we’re content to live a day without God, then one of two things are true of us: either we are deluded into believing we are Christians, yet remain unregenerate, or we are so apostate, having our consciences so heavily seared, it matters not what state we are in. Many in the church today presume hell is just for ‘bad’ people; hell is for people who are religious and morally upright, yet deny God pre-eminence in their lives.

It’s time again that Christians stop worrying what the world thinks of us; it will hate those who desire to live godly lives, and such should expect it and stand bold under its opposition. Our purpose is not to impress the world, to blend in with it and gain its favour. We are saved to be light and salt in this life. If we are not abnormal (different) to the world then we’re still outside the kingdom of heaven, and if revival is to take place in our generation it will be a discomforting procedure where the church is to be cleansed from her spiritual promiscuity and resemblance to the world, and a reigniting of the flame that once burned fervently in undivided devotion to her First Love.