Mark 12:30

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength

How to love the Lord with all your strength

This is our last post in the series All In. So far, I have challenged you to take everything you have, every part of your life and invest it in this relationship you have with the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are not yet fire up to give yourself completely in 2012 to the Lord maybe this last post will help you jump in.

The command here in Mark to love the Lord with all one’s strength is a call for us to intensify our affections or bring all our energy to bear on one thing – loving God with zeal. In Ecclesiastes 9:10 we find the word “Might.”. In Romans 12:11 we find the word zeal. And in Colossians 3:2, 5 we find the word heartily. All of these used to describe how we need to love the Lord with intensity.

The kind of zeal I am not talking about

When he was pastor for the Methodist church in Scarborough, William Sangster had an eccentric member who tried to be a zealous Christian. Unfortunately, the man was mentally deficient and usually did the wrong thing. While working as a barber the man lathered up a customer for a shave, came at him with the poised razor, and asked, “Are you prepared to meet your God?” The frightened man fled with the lather on his face!

The kind of zeal I am talking about

• Is a life that is completely on fire for the Lord. Jesus found this church’s tepid indifference repugnant – Revelation 3:15, 16. Therefore He threatened to spit the church out of His mouth because it was lukewarm. The bible say that we should never be lacking in zeal but we should keep our spiritual fervor serving the Lord.
• Is a life that is passionate about the gifts and callings and ministry that Lord has given. he who serves let him serve with zeal. He who leads let him lead with passion. Do nothing haphazardly, half-heartedly but do everything with our whole heart. Romans 12:6-8, 13
• Is a life that practices generosity. When it is time to give we be the first with an offering in our hand, a gift, a swift response to help somebody. Let your enthusiasm show. Be a cheerful giver, ready on every occasion to lend a helping hand. 2 Corinthians 9:2
• Is a life that is completely zealous for the house of God and for fellowship. Just like it was with Jesus, zeal for our father’s house consumes him/her. He/she does not forsake the gathering of the assembly like some are in the habit of. John 2:17; Heb. 10:23
• Is a life that is passionate about defending the faith. This is not the call for us to have a disagreeable spirit with everyone about faith and religion. But a call to stand up for the truth. 1 Peter 3:15; 1 Tim. 6:12
• Finally, the zeal I am talking about is in the life a person who passionately pursues the high calling. Paul said, “not that I have already arrived, but this one thing I do – I press on toward to mark of the prize of my high calling in Christ Jesus. He said, I am running and I am not looking back to past glory and successes. I want to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the sweet fellowship of the Spirit and to become like him.

This concludes our series – Are you all in 2012?