Walk of Life – Day 8 – July 2021 – Thoughts from the Book of Proverbs – Be Diligent
Be Diligent to Love the Lord
I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. Proverbs 8:17
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Revelation 2:4
Love has become a very common word more misused than used correctly. The Greek word for love is agapaō, to have a preference for, or to wish well; to regard the welfare of. It is to take pleasure in; to prize it above other things; to be unwilling to abandon it or do without it; to welcome with desire; to long for. The Hebrew word is ahab and means to have affection for, desire, delight in, or be fond of.
Love is not just a feeling or an emotion. I do not love someone only if they are good or nice to me. Love is a decision of the will to act in the light of a deep, abiding concern and affection for the object of our love.
We should love the Lord with all our soul, mind, and strength. The soul is literally the breath of life, which God breathed into man to make him a living being. Our mind is the faculty of understanding, what enables us to imagine and think and reason. Our strength is the ability, force or power we exert in loving God. It means we should wholeheartedly love Him, with all our being. Our senses, our emotions, our feelings, are all directed towards loving the Lord. Loving the Lord with all your heart means loving him, honoring Him at all times…not just when everything seems rosy and nice but also through the storms, the fears, the trials, the suffering, the tears, the heartache…I still love Him because I know He cares and He is in control. I love Him when He answers ALL my prayers, I love Him even if He does not seem to be listening, I love Him even when He says WAIT or NO, I love HIM at all times, in all seasons, in all circumstances, in all situations because He loved me first. He was so loving that He sacrificed His very life for me…would He think of doing me any harm…no way!!
It also means that God has the first priority in your life above anything else in this world. He is my true love and my ONLY love. No one else or nothing else is more important to me than pleasing Him and His Word. If His Word commands I implicitly obey because I love Him.
If we love the Lord, the Cross will play an important role in our life. The more you die to yourself, the more you will love the Lord. He must increase and I must decrease. It is no longer I that liveth but Christ that liveth in me. The work of the cross will enable that I die to my desires, my longings, my ambitions, my goals, my aims, my thoughts and I live to do the will of my Heavenly Father. “Lord not my will but thine be done”…the love of the Son of God for His Father exhibited at Gethsemane! Christ is all and in all for me…I dare not do anything of myself, I belong to Him and I walk according to His Will.
A. W. Tozer says that people who are crucified with Christ have three distinct marks: They are facing only one direction; They can never turn back; and They no longer have plans of their own.
“When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord will govern the claims for our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities. – Ezra Taft Benson”
Dear Lord, help me to love thee wholeheartedly, to allow the cross to work in my life daily, to die to myself, and live for thee and thee alone. Help me to diligently love you.
