Do You Love God?
Matthew 22:37 reads, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Why did God create you—what is your purpose in life? Imagine climbing the ladder of life and when you reach the top rung,
you realize it is leaning against the wrong wall. Matthew 22:34-40 reveals three reasons the Lord created you. Life will not make sense unless you understand them. First, God created you to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Either Jesus Christ or the world has your affections; it can’t be both. “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24) If Jesus isn’t the object of your total love, then something else is. Second, God created you for eternal life, not just time and its trappings. Time gives opportunity to get to know God, but most of us act like we’re staying here forever. We are called to store up treasures in heaven. Imagine for a moment the use of your resources of treasure, time, and talent. What eternal treasures have your stored up by the way you’ve used them? An honest examination will reveal where your heart is. “One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14) Paul had the proper focus. Lift your eyes above the earthly treasures. Third, God created you to walk with Him in fellowship on a regular basis. Before the fall, God walked daily with Adam in the garden. Our walk with God is personal, and He won’t reveal Himself without a love relationship. Have you responded to God’s initiative of love by loving Him? Receive God’s love displayed in Christ’s salvation. Life has no purpose apart from this!
Sin cera, Erik
Erik O. Garthe is Associate Pastor at Canton Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland.
