What does it mean to really love God. To really love God, Christ says that you have to love him with all your heart, all your mind, all your strength and all your soul. And equally important, Christ says, that you love your neighbor as yourself. This, Christ says, is the first and foremost of God's commands. How does one love God with all of one's heart, all of one's mind, all of one's soul and all of one's strength? How can it be done in our daily walk as we face the daily, hourly challenges that life throws at us? The peaks and valleys of our lives, the carnal desires of our heart, the selfish desires, the lustful pleasures that the body craves - whether it's food, alcohol, drugs, sex, or whatever. The prideful desires for wealth, fame and prestige. These crowd God out of our hearts.
No matter, this seems to be the normal course for every man's life. Yet we can overcome these, and moment by moment fulfill the first and foremost command in the Bible to truly love God. This is where the three temptations of Christ and why he went through them makes sense. First, the three temptations of Christ - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the heart and man's pride that he overcame with God's word (God's commands in the Bible) and his relationship with Father God, are lessons for us to take to heart. The lessons of prayer, fasting and meditation on God's word. Secondly, how Christ loved his neighbor, not the pharisees and the religious right wingers, but the blind, the deaf, the lame, the cripple, the sick, the lepers, the prostitute, the destitute and the marginalized ones of society, showing them through his love and compassion, his way of life, the pathway to salvation. This is our roadmap on how to truly love God. Daily overcoming the temptations of life and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Loving your neighbor is not just loving your brother/sister at home or in the church, rather how do you show another, someone who doesn't know Christ, the pathway to salvation that you so dearly want for yourself.
I find it encouraging that the man who wrote a good portion of the new testament in the Bible, apostle Paul, cries out to God to help him overcome a thorn in his flesh, that may have affected his christian walk; an infirmity, whatever that may be whether physical or mental the Bible does not say. In 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, we read Paul's writing,
"7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. "God's answer to Paul's pleas was not by removing the "thorn in the flesh," but to let him know that his grace was sufficient to live with it and conquer it on a daily basis. A promise, that in good times, bad times and ugly times of our lives, God was not going to let go of us, but in our weak moments, his strength, his grace would keep us moving forward. Christ has a personal agenda for each of our lives. As the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-3), he takes a personal responsibility to make sure that we finish this journey of life victoriously. Christ's prayer in the book of John, chapter 17, for his disciples and all future believers is an attestation to this. The only one mentioned to be lost in this chapter was Judas Iscariot. Yet I believe he would have been pardoned if he had asked for God's forgiveness.
Each day in our life we will be faced with the same temptations that Christ faced. Some folks will be strong in dealing with some aspects of these temptations in life, but none is strong in all aspects of these temptations that each of us will face at one point or another in our lives. The hope that we have in Christ is that since he has overcome all temptations, his grace will be sufficient at our time of need. Ask God without any reservations, ask him bluntly (for no sugarcoating of our predicament in life is needed in front of an omniscient God) to help as you face your thorn(s) in the flesh. The bible says that it is very personal to God when it comes to his children, for his glory is what's at stake. It's personal to God when it comes to your life.
We need to be sincere in our asks to God each day, and know that there will be missteps and falls along the way, but you will find a God who keeps every promise he's ever made to mankind. He will keep us standing each day as we put our faith in him to help us with the thorn(s) in our flesh. As you face and overcome the temptations in your life on a daily basis, with God's grace, you will find yourself loving this God with more of your heart, more of your mind, more of your strength and more of your soul; and loving your neighbor as yourself.
May our prayers each day be the prayer of David, "Search me oh God and know my heart, test me and know my thoughts. Point out within me all that displeases you and lead me along the paths of everlasting life." - Psalms 139. And one day we will stand in front of him loving and worshipping him with all our heart, all our mind, all our strength and all our soul; and that neighbor you loved as yourself will be standing beside you. And His grace which is sufficient will make this happen!
Casting Crowns - The Well
