Tuesday, 22 December 2015

If I asked you to give God 100 percent-
– would you immediately think I meant money?

Don’t worry!
This question really isn’t about money.

It’s about you!

All of you-
Heart, mind, soul and strength.

In fact, that’s what God wants from you.
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).

And Jesus underscored this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).

That’s definitely one hundred percent.

Jesus goes on to say, “This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:38-40).

Did you notice that it begins with love?
When you choose to love God like that, the obedience and the service fall into place.
You honour His commandments because your love for Him keeps you from lying, adultery, coveting, creating idols and all the rest (Exodus 20:1-17).

How’s your heart for God?
The Bible talks about the heart as the center of all activity, the real intents and desires that drive and determine what you’ll do and become, and “from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

Does your soul belong to God?
The soul is the eternal spirit, the “you-ness” God created in you that continues when your body fails and dies.
In talking about the end of a person’s life, Ecclesiastes 12:7 describes it as “the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.”

Are you transformed by the renewal of your mind?
The mind is your will, where you make choices and reason through your actions or attitudes.
“Be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).
What choices have you made to follow God?
What decisions do you try to make without Him?

Have you surrendered your body as a living sacrifice?
You can’t leave out your physical strength, the body, because it houses (for our time on earth) all the rest.
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1).

How much of your mind, heart, soul and even body have you given to God?
Do you think you’re holding onto something that He wants from you?
What’s keeping you from giving 100 percent?

So, how do you do this 100 percent thing?

There’s no easy formula.
But it begins with a choice.

Choose to love God-
– for who He is and what He’s done for you.

Then start asking-
“How can I show God I love Him?
If I love God, what other choices do I make?”

He’ll help you.
So make sure you ask God to show you each day how to give Him more and more of yourself.

(PR)