These are the commands, decrees and laws God directed Moses to teach Israel to observe in the land that they are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that they, their children, and their children after them may fear God as long as they live by keeping all his decrees and commands that He gives them, and so that they may enjoy long life, Deuteronomy 6:1-2.
Sailhamer, in his commentary, says the following about fear.
‘It is a fear that produces not obeisance but obedience, not worry but worship, Deuteronomy 6:13.’
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Whoever fears God will endeavour to bring up his children in the way of righteousness, that they also may fear God, and that pure and undefiled religion may be preserved in his family through all its generations, not only in word, but in practice also.’
Moses begins by warning Israel to hear and obey God’s commandments and he encourages them to remember how they felt when they first heard God’s commands, that is, they were fearful of God, Deuteronomy 6:3. Our fear of God is seen in our obedience to Him, Titus 3:8 / Matthew 10:28 / 1 Peter 1:17.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The only individual in the Old Testament of whom it was said that he turned to the Lord with all his heart, soul, and might was King Josiah, 2 Kings 23:25.
The ‘Shema’, is a passage of Scripture which every faithful Jew would recite twice a day. And in every Jewish household, attached to the right side of the doorpost, there would be what they call a ‘medusah’. This was a small container which contains a certain Bible text.
Even today if you go into a Jewish house, you will often see them touching the ‘medusah’ or kissing it. At the same time they would recite the words from Psalm 121:8 in Hebrew, ‘Jehovah will keep thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth and forevermore.’
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘These words form the beginning of what is termed the ‘Shema’ (Hear) in the Jewish Services and belong to the daily morning and evening office. They may be called ‘the creed of the Jews.’
The name Deuteronomy is the Hebrew word, ‘Devarim’ which means ‘these are the words.’ In Greek, the name is made up of two separate words, Deutero which means ‘second’ and Nomos, which means ‘law’. In other words, the Book of Deuteronomy is the second giving of the law.
It wasn’t a new law for Israel, but a repetition of the laws that were given at Mount Sinai in the Book of Exodus. However, in the repetition of the law, Moses explains and amplifies various portions of the laws that were given about forty years before.
Moses begins with a call to the Israelites saying, ‘Hear, O Israel!’ Deuteronomy 6:4. The word translated ‘hear’ is the word, ‘Shema’ in Hebrew. It describes both the mental activity of hearing as well as its effects. In other words, hearing is always followed by obeying what was said. And what did the Lord require? The Lord requires an undivided love and loyalty from the Israelites because He alone is their God.
The name ‘LORD’, Deuteronomy 6:4, is from the Hebrew word Yahweh, meaning ‘He is’ or ‘the becoming One’ and for the Jews, it was a sacred word for God. The word was considered so sacred that they wouldn’t pronounce it with their lips and so, they used the word ‘Adonai’, which is ‘my Lord’.
Where did they get this idea from? Exodus 20:7. The Jews were so concerned not to misuse the name of God that this tradition arose. The Jews wanted to be absolutely certain that they didn’t misuse the name of the Lord and so they read Adonai in place of YHWH. In fact, they go as far as not even spelling the name of God in their writings, they simply write the letters G_D. Yes the motives for this tradition were good, but it was never commanded by God Himself.
We may be forgiven for asking, what’s the big deal, it’s just a name, but a name, even your name, represents your reputation, your character and authority. God says, ‘when you misuse My name it’s a big deal because you’re defaming My reputation, My character and My authority and you are using it flippantly.’ And please know there are many ways people misuse God’s Name, Deuteronomy 5:11.
1. People use God’s Name to insult other people.
This is when we use profanity or swearing to express irritation. Why do people swear? They lack emotional control, but the main reason is they do it to impress others. It takes maturity to discipline our speech, especially when we’re angry and it takes discipline to refrain from swearing, James 3:9-12.
2. People use God’s Name to intimidate other people.
How many sermons have you heard where the preachers says, ‘I had a vision from God and He told me that you guys are to give me money to buy a car or a jet’? These people are using God’s Name to intimidate money out of their followers. Parents do this all the time, when their kids misbehave, they get angry with them and some people go the extreme by telling their children that God is going to get them if they don’t start behaving.
3. People use God’s Name impulsively.
This is where people use God’s Name as a convenient expression of fear or anger or joy or amazement or surprise. But, God says, ‘when you use My name, you take it seriously. Don’t use it flippantly.’
The concept of the Trinity has baffled many people for centuries mainly because people misunderstand or don’t want to accept the concept of the Trinity because to them it is illogical.
We must begin by acknowledging that the word ‘Trinity’ is nowhere found in the Scriptures but what we do find is the word ‘Godhead’, Acts 17:29 / Romans 1:20 / Colossians 2:9. The Greek word for Godhead is ‘theios’, and it means the nature of God especially as existing in three persons.
The encyclopaedia of Britannica, gives the following definition.
‘Trinity, in Christian doctrine, the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead.’
When Christians speak of the Trinity, they are not saying there are three separate Gods, they are saying that God is one Being who exists in three Persons. God is one in essence and three in person. The three Persons of the Trinity are co-equal and co-eternal, one in essence, nature, power, action, and will, and each of them is uncreated.
When we turn our attention to the Old Testament we find in the first sentence of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, the word ‘God’. The word ‘El’ is the singular word for ‘god,’ and the word in Genesis 1:1, is ‘Elohim,’ which is plural. When the noun ‘God’ is capitalized, it means the one, true God, the God we worship.
When the noun ‘god’ is not capitalized, it refers to a false god, Psalm 96:5. For example, the term ‘elohim’, god, is used to figuratively speak of pagan deities, Psalm 96:5, to designate human rulers, or judges, as they represent God and stand in His place, Psalm 82:1 / Psalm 82:6, and angels as His messengers, Psalm 8:5 / Hebrews 2:7.
Notice the Spirit of God is involved in creation, Genesis 1:2 / Psalm 33:6-7 / Job 26:13, and we also find God referring to Himself by the plural pronouns ‘we’ and ‘us’, Genesis 1:26-27 / Genesis 3:5 / Genesis 3:22 / Genesis 11:7. Isaiah does the same in Isaiah 6:8 / Isaiah 41:21-24. In Isaiah 6:3, there is a threefold ascription of praise to God, there is one ‘holy’ for each Person of the Godhead. A careful reading of Genesis 19:24, tells us that Yahweh brings down sulphur and fire from the Yahweh who is in heaven above.
When we turn our attention to the New Testament we find the Bible speaks of the Father as God, Philippians 1:2, Jesus as God, John 1:1 / Titus 2:13, and the Holy Spirit as God, Acts 5:3-4. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three distinct Persons, Matthew 28:19-20 / 2 Corinthians 13:14.
The church is described as the household of the Father, 1 Timothy 3:15, the bride of the Son, 2 Corinthians 11:2 / Ephesians 5:27 / Revelation 19:7, and the temple of the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 6:19.
We should also note that the Father is not the Son, John 3:16-17 / John 4:34 / John 5:30. The Son is not the Father, John 5:31-32 / John 16:10 / John 17:20-23. The Father is not the Holy Spirit, John 14:26 / John 16:13-15. The Holy Spirit is not the Father, John 14:26 / Romans 8:27. The Son is not the Holy Spirit, John 15:26 / John 16:7. The Holy Spirit is not the Son, Matthew 1:20 / John 16:8.
We can see the distinction between the three of them when we read that the Father sent the Son into the world, John 3:16, therefore He cannot be the same person as the Son. The Son returned to the Father, John 16:10, and the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit into the world, John 14:26 / Acts 2:33.
Therefore, the Holy Spirit is clearly distinct from the Father and the Son. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three distinct Persons. Each person of the Trinity is fully God, yet they relate to one another in distinct ways, Matthew 3:16-17 / Matthew 28:19 / 2 Corinthians 13:14.
I’ve heard many people say if the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God, then logically this means there are three Gods, which goes against the Bible’s claim that there is only one God, Deuteronomy 6:4 / Isaiah 44:6-8 / Isaiah 43:10-11 / Isaiah 45:5-6 / Isaiah 46:9-11 / John 5:44 / John 17:3 / Romans 3:30 / 1 John 5:20-21.
Just as the word ‘you’ can be used in plural in the Scriptures, Deuteronomy 31:27 / Amos 6:1 / 1 Corinthians 3:16 / 1 Peter 2:5, it may come as a surprise to many that the word ‘one’ can also be used in the plural sense. In terms of the Trinity, it can be used to describe unity in a multi-Personal Being.
Take for example Deuteronomy 6:4, where it says, ‘Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.’ In Hebrew this is ‘Yahweh Eloheinu Yahweh echad’. A literal translation of this verse would read as follows, ‘Hear, O Israel; Yahweh (is) our Gods, Yahweh is a Unity.’
The Hebrew word ‘Eloheinu’, which translates as ‘our Gods,’ is the first-person plural variation of Elohim. The word ‘one’ used in Deuteronomy 6:4, is the Hebrew word, ‘ehud’ which functions much like the English word in that it can refer to a solitary oneness or to a complex unity.
A good example of this use of the word is found in Genesis 2:24, where Moses records, ‘for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The words ‘one flesh’ is ‘echad basar’ in Hebrew. So here we have a man and his wife, two different persons, two separate and distinct human beings become one. They do not become a singular being, but instead, they are in unity with each other.
Jesus uses the Greek equivalent words to express the same idea when He quotes Genesis 2:24 in Matthew 19:4-6. ‘The two shall become one flesh’, ‘sarka mian’, ‘they are no longer two but one flesh’ ‘sarx mia’. So, the word ‘one’ can refer not only to a solitary oneness but also to a complex unity, 1 Corinthians 3:8. In relation to the Trinity we see that this refers to multi-Personal Being. Jesus Himself says He and the Father are one, John 10:30.
In Genesis 34:16-22, we read of two different groups of people, the Israelites and the Shechemites, and notice they come together to form one ‘echad’ people. In Genesis 41:25-26, we find Joseph telling Pharaoh that his dreams are one ‘echad’, in the same. In other words, two different dreams but they mean the same, they are one, they go together, they are united.
One doesn’t necessary mean solitary oneness, but it can mean a complex unity. If we take a closer look into the Old Testament, we find that the Hebrew word for ‘face’, ‘presence’, and ‘person’ is actually plural, Exodus 33:14 / Deuteronomy 4:37 / Job 13:8.
When we read Deuteronomy 10:17, the Hebrew says that ‘Yahweh is the Gods and Lords of all the other gods and lords’. The word ‘Creator’ used in Ecclesiastes 12:1, is also plural in Hebrew, as are the words ‘Maker’ and ‘Husband’ in Hebrew, Job 35:10 / Psalm 149:2 / Isaiah 54:5. In 2 Samuel 7:23, the words ‘God went’ are plural and the text literally says, ‘Gods, they went to redeem.’
As I mentioned at the beginning, many people don’t understand or won’t accept the doctrine of the Trinity because they think it is illogical. I wonder if these same people accept the virgin birth as logical, Genesis 3:15 / Isaiah 7:14 / Matthew 1:23.
The Scriptures clearly teach the principle of the Trinity, where God is one Being who exists in three Persons. God is one in essence and three in person. The three are one, Ephesians 4:6, in nature, character, and purpose and they are the same in properties, attributes and equal in power and glory, 1 John 5:7.
All three persons of the Godhead are self-existent, Exodus 3:14-15 / John 8:58 / Genesis 1:2. Omniscience, meaning all-knowing, Romans 11:33-34 / Matthew 9:4 / 1 Corinthians 2:11. Omnipresence, meaning present everywhere, Psalm 139:1-10 / Matthew 28:20 / Psalm 139:7.
Omnipotence, meaning all powerful, Psalm 62:11 / 1 Corinthians 15:25 / Romans 15:19. Holy, Revelation 15:4 / Acts 3:14 / Ephesians 4:30, and good, Romans 2:4 / Ephesians 5:25 / Nehemiah 9:20.
People use different object lessons to try and explain the Trinity with others, some are good, others not so good. Maybe the easiest object lessons are the ones people see and speak about every day. For example, when people speak about a rugby team or a football team, everyone knows that is there is more than one person involved in the word team.
They are one in terms of being a team despite having many players, with different roles and positions. The church itself is one body but made up of different parts, each having their different roles, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27.
Why emphasise the oneness of God? Deuteronomy 6:4. Remember the world in which the Israelites lived, it was full of idols. Their ancestors lived in Egypt and in Egypt idols were everywhere. In the Promised land, idol worship was everywhere. Though other nations served and worshiped other gods, the Israelites were to recognise the LORD alone as their God, Deuteronomy 4:35. God is one, and there is only one God, 1 Timothy 2:5.
Notice the relation between Israel and God. The same God who had a relationship with Israel is also our God today. He is not only our God, but also your God, He’s our personal God. Thomas understood this after seeing Jesus, he says to Jesus that He was, ‘My Lord and my God!’ John 20:28.
Israel were to love Him with all their heart, soul, and strength, which implies they were to love Him with everything they’ve got. Such a love for God includes an expression of obedience. This love was to be the appropriate response to the LORD because He alone is God, Deuteronomy 10:12 / Deuteronomy 30:16. This love was to be completely directed to God alone and is further indicated by the repetition of the word ‘all’ along with the terms ‘heart,’ ‘soul,’ and ‘might’ in the same verse, Deuteronomy 6:4-5.
Sadly, when Israel forgot the Lord, things went from bad to worse, Jeremiah 2:32 / Jeremiah 23:27. God needs to be the total focus of our attention every single day of our lives. Is God the focus of our attention? John 12:42-43.
1. Begin the day with God, 1 Thessalonians 5:17.
I know it sounds simple enough but if you or I are going to stay focused on God, we have got to include the things of God in our daily lives! I know your mornings are rushed, but if you create the discipline to spend the first minutes of your day reading the Word of God and talking to Him about the day ahead, you will have a greater focus on Him throughout the day.
Do you want to create and develop the habit of a prayerful life? This is a habit worth developing and isn’t as difficult as you might think. When you see or hear a news report that bothers you, pray for the people and the situation. When you come across someone that annoys you or tries your patience, silently pray for them. When you hear of someone facing some problem, large or small, pray for them.
God doesn’t need your eloquent, long-winded pious sounding discourses, He wants your heart, and often in prayer that sounds as simple as ‘God, help!’
2. Limit the distractions.
In Joshua 3:1-4, the people of Israel are commanded to keep a distance of 2,000 cubits between them and the ark of the covenant. That’s about half a mile and the purpose was so the people of Israel would always be able to see the ark in all types of terrain that they were traveling through. In our spiritual lives, when we fill the spaces with all kinds of conveniences and distractions, it becomes very difficult and even impossible sometimes to see where the Lord is leading us.
3. Serve God.
We know Matthew 6:24, and you’ve probably also heard the term ‘mammon’ in place of money at the end of it. Though ‘mammon’ was a word that primarily represented money and possessions, it was also used to refer to lusts of all types. If you’re serving God with your resources of time, energy, talents, and with your money, then staying focused on God will naturally follow.
4. Remove sin from your life, Hebrews 12:1-2.
If there is something, someone, some place or anything in your life that leads you away from God in any way. Something that keeps you out of prayer, away from fellowship with other believers or distracts you from reading your Bible, you have one option, remove that thing from your life.
Staying focused on God and growing in your spiritual, prayer, or Christian life in any way with any habitual sin in your life is next to impossible. Ask any runner what is the worst thing they can do in a race and they will tell you, turning around to have a look. We must focus and fix our eyes on Jesus if we want to finish the race. We must kill the sin or it will kill you spiritually, physically, or both.
It’s not enough to simply listen to what God has to say, we must also obey what He says, John 14:15. He is our God, He is our LORD, and if we claim to love Him, we must obey what He says.
We all know how much God loves us because the Bible clearly tells us, John 3:16 / 1 John 3:16. And so, there is no questioning God’s love for us, but how do we love God? Deuteronomy 6:5.
C. S. Lewis once said the following.
‘On the whole, God’s love for us is a much safer subject to think about than our love for Him.’
God never commands us to do something without first telling how to do it. And so, after telling Israel that the LORD God is one, Moses goes on to explain us how we are to love God. The Hebrew word for love is the word ‘ahab’ and it carries with it the idea of having the ultimate love that we can express or feel. In other words, when we say we love the Lord, we’re saying we have loved, and we do love and will continue to love the Lord our God with all my heart, soul, and strength.
Do you love God with all of your heart? If we’re honest with ourselves, we will admit that we all love God to a certain extent, but the truth is, sometimes He’s not always the One we love most. Sometimes we love our spouses more or our families more. Sometimes we love our jobs or hobbies more. We have many other things in this world that are pulling for our affection.
So how can we obey the Lord’s command to love Him with all our heart? We have to acknowledge that we can’t really love Him or anyone else without His help. In other words, He doesn’t ask us to do anything which didn’t first originate from Him, 1 John 4:19.
God is the actual source of our love for Him. He loved us first, and He infused us with His love. To infuse means to fill, to soak, we’re being soaked with the love of God. The love of God in us, is the love with which we can love Him in return.
When most people think about love, they think of the warm fluffy feeling they get when they meet someone. But love isn’t merely a feeling, it’s attribute, hence why God is love, 1 John 4:8 / 1 John 4:16. We can’t claim to love anyone if we don’t know God because God is love.
The reason we know and rely on the love God is simply because God is love. So what is the heart? You would be forgiven for thinking it is an organ in your body which keeps you alive. That’s just a pump that keeps the blood flowing through your body.
We have to remember in the Old Testament the word ‘heart’ didn’t carry the same deep meaning in Hebrew as it does in Greek New Testament. This is one reason why the New Testament gives a deeper meaning to the word ‘mind’. In other words, the Hebrew concept of ‘heart’ included both feelings and thoughts, Genesis 6:5.
Thinking is an activity of the mind, but Jesus asked the scribes why they were thinking those thoughts in their hearts, Matthew 9:4. This shows that our mind is part of our heart. In Acts 11:23, we read that when we exercise our will, our will is part of our heart. Rejoicing is related to our emotions, but in John 16:22, we see that our heart rejoices. This shows us that our emotions are also part of our heart.
Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, Hebrews 10:22, indicates that our conscience is also part of our heart. Our heart does much more than we might have thought. In addition to sensing the wide range of human emotions, our heart thinks, decides, and perceives right from wrong. If we didn’t have a heart, we couldn’t sense love or love in return, Mark 12:30. God created us with a heart so we could have a loving relationship with Him.
So in a very real sense, our heart is at the centre of our relationship with God. We were created by God in such a marvellous way. We have a spirit to contact, receive, and contain Him as life, and a heart to love Him. He wants to be our life and He wants us to love Him with our whole heart. And if we’re truthful with ourselves, it easy to love God when things are going well, when we enjoy one blessing after another.
But what about those difficult times? What about when challenges come our way? Israel had to learn the lesson which we still have to learn today. Loving God with ALL of our heart means loving God at ALL times, even when God seems quiet. Even when He says wait, even when He says no.
And, yes, even when bad things happen and challenges come our way. Loving God at all times is a day-to-day learning process. We learn more and more how to do it and keep on doing it a little each day. And we do that until we can say what the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:11-13.
Notice that word ‘courage’, in Philippians 4:11-13, the root word for courage is ‘cor’ which is Latin for ‘heart’. Living with courage in our heart, is a good way to remind ourselves to love God. Living with courage in our heart, is a good way to remind ourselves not to trust on our own feelings or understanding, Proverbs 3:5.
Martin Luther, once said the following in a poem.
‘For feelings come and feelings go, And feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the Word of God: Naught else is worth believing. Though all my heart should feel condemned For want of some sweet token, There is One greater than my heart Whose Word cannot be broken. I’ll trust in God’s unchanging Word Till soul and body sever: For, though all things shall pass away, His Word shall stand forever.’
When we depend on our own feelings and understanding, we end up confused. God doesn’t love me anymore! God has abandoned me in my time of need! Loving God with our mind means renewing our mind daily so that we think more of His thoughts instead of our own, Romans 12:2.
God’s will and thoughts are good, pleasing, and perfect and we need as much of them as possible to fill and renew our mind. Renewing our mind in God’s Word is an important way of loving God. God is a loving God, and He created us with a heart so that we would love Him wholly and absolutely. But like I mentioned earlier, we know our heart loves many other things besides God.
So what do we do to make sure we continue to love God with all of our heart? Simply trying not to love those things doesn’t work. When our heart is turned away from the Lord and set on things such as sins, selfish preoccupations, and worldly pleasures, it has a veil on it, 2 Corinthians 3:15-16. In other words, they stop us from seeing the Lord. But when we turn our heart to Him, the veil is removed, and we can see the Lord again. We see His beauty, His virtues, and how wonderful He is.
Then He infuses more of what He is, including love, into us and it’s in this way, our love for Him grows. We can turn our hearts to the Lord Jesus at any time by praying to Him, calling on His name, confessing our sins to Him, and spending time in His Word. These simple practices can remove the veil from our heart, restore our fellowship with the Lord, and rekindle our love for Him.
When Sir Walter Raleigh was led to the block, his executioner asked him if his head lay right. Raleigh answered, ‘It matters little, my friend, how the head lies, provided the heart is right.’
Let me ask you, what does your heart speak? How does your heart lie? Are you loving God with all your heart?
Before we look at what it means to love God with all of our soul, Deuteronomy 6:5, I think we first need to ask the question, what is the soul? All human beings are triune beings. The Godhead is made up of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. And Paul says human beings are also triune beings because we have a body, soul, and spirit, 1 Thessalonians 5:23.
The body is of the earth and for the earth. We might describe the body as ‘Earth-conscious’, since it is the physical tool or instrument, by means of which a person’s ‘soul’ or ‘self’ by its very nature is invisible is able to function in a physical world.
Although the Son existed ‘in the beginning with God’, John 1:1-2, it was necessary that ‘the Word’ should ‘become flesh’ and ‘dwell’ or ‘tabernacle’ among us, John 1:14. The Lord needed a physical body. Paul says in Philippians 2:6-8, without the human form that Jesus took on Himself, it would have been impossible for Him to fulfil the unique purpose for which He came. And so, The Word must become flesh.
This was the divine plan, that’s why we find the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, placing the words of the Psalmist from Psalm 40:6-8, into the Lord’s mouth. Notice that the ‘body’ was prepared for ‘me,’ Hebrews 10:5. In other words, man is more than just a bunch of chemicals. Man, is housed in a physical body and since his body is designed for earthly life, at death, the body returns to the earth, Genesis 3:19.
If we consider the body to be ‘Earth-conscious’, we may think of the spirit as being ‘God-conscious’, Job 32:8. In other words, it’s that part of man’s nature which enables him to reach out to and communicate with God. It’s the spiritual dimension in man’s character, and here again, we see the difference between man and other creatures.
It’s only man says who can say, ‘My soul thirsts for God, for the living God’. Psalm 42:2. Its only man who is encouraged to ‘Seek after Him, in the hope that they might feel after Him and find Him.’ Acts 17:27. Its only man who is given the assurance that ‘He is not far from each one of us, for in Him we live and move and have our being.’ Acts 17:27. And as Solomon reminds us at death, ‘The spirit returns to God Who gave it.’ Ecclesiastes 12:7.
The ‘soul’ is man’s unique self. It is the part of his being which because it is rational and moral, determines the actions performed by his body, and which, therefore, renders him personally accountable for what he does. And so, it is man’s ‘soul’ which will ultimately be either saved or lost, depending on a person’s response to the offer of the salvation which was made first possible by the coming of the Christ into the world.
The Greeks thought of the soul as the thing that integrates our whole inside. In other words, if something is messed up in our soul, our whole life is messed up. If we have bitterness or unforgiveness in our soul, it saturates everything in our life. To the Greeks, the soul is the thing that tied heart, mind, and strength together. Loving God with all our soul means to love Him with our entire inner being.
To love God with all my soul means loving God with all I am, Psalm 62:5 / Psalm 103:1. My will, my attitudes, my intentions, my emotions, my thoughts and feelings, and my body. To love God with all your soul is to love God with your entire inner life.
Have you ever asked yourself, why you are here? Why does my life feel empty at times? We all have a God shaped space within in us which can only be satisfied by Him. People turn to all kinds of things to fill in that space, drugs, alcohol, affairs, work, etc. But that space can only be filled by God because He is the One who fits perfectly into it.
C. S. Lewis, says the following.
‘The mould in which a key is made would be a strange thing, if you had never seen a key, and the key itself a strange thing if you had never seen a lock. Your soul has a curious shape because it is a hollow made to fit a particular swelling in the infinite contours of the divine substance, or a key to unlock one of the doors in the house with many mansions. Your place in heaven will seem to be made for you and you alone, because you were made for it, made for it stitch by stitch as a glove is made for a hand.’
When we allow ourselves to go beyond just believing that God exists, our souls takes us much farther than our heart can. Your soul takes you to a solid relationship with the living Lord and as a bonus, heaven. Loving God with all your soul means evaluating yourself and working to be everything God calls you to be.
Let me ask you some tough questions, 2 Corinthians 3:18. Do you look more like Jesus than you did last week? What characteristics, gifts, and talents set you apart? How is God leading you to use your uniqueness to serve Him and to draw others closer to Him? Are you using your resources like time, money, talent, and energy wisely and for His good purposes? Do you represent Christ with your life?
Understanding ourselves and our own special qualities, through the help of others and the Holy Spirit, teaches us how to fulfil God’s purpose in our lives. How valuable is your soul? Are you prepared for eternity? What’s more important to you, your life, or your soul? Matthew 16:24-26.
Your family, your job, your wealth, or your soul? In spite of whatever circumstances you face or will face in this life, is it not your deep desire to be able to find your way to the place where you can truly say that no matter what, ‘it is well with my soul’, that no matter what, I love God with all of my soul.
The Hebrew word for strength, Deuteronomy 6:5, is the word, ‘Me’od’ but it doesn’t mean strength in terms of muscle power. The word literally means ‘muchness’, in other words, the Israelites were to love God with all their ‘muchness’. They are to love God with all their substance, all their possessions, everything which God has given them. They are to love him with all of their might, all their being, all of their energy, Ecclesiastes 9:10.
And as Christians we too, are to love God with all of our might, all of our actions, all of our energy. We’re to love Him not just with a portion of our life but all of our life. There shouldn’t be any part of our lives which is kept back from loving God. When we turn our heart to the Lord, when we turn to soul to the Lord, our strength will naturally follow. The outward actions that our bodies perform will naturally follow. Loving God will all of our strength will be seen in the way we spend our time. Loving God with all of our strength will be seen in the way we use our energy.
In other words, there’s a change which takes place, and that change is demonstrated in the way we use our physical strength to pursue the Lord. It’s the idea of loving God more and more and wanting to please Him more and more with every aspect of our lives. Remember when God commands anything of us, He doesn’t force us to do anything against our will. The Israelites had a choice whether to love God with all their heart, soul, and strength or not.
Let me ask you, does anyone force you to love your husband or wife? Of course not, you love them because you choose to love them. Does anyone force you to love your children or grandchildren? Of course not, you love them because you choose to love them. Love goes way beyond our feelings. God doesn’t force us to love Him because loving God is a choice. And if we choose to love Him with all of our heart, soul, and strength, He will help us to do just that.
Isaiah says that God will give us the strength to do whatever He asks of us, Isaiah 40:29-31. We all have times when we don’t feel strong, we all have times when we feel weary and weak. We all go through times when we feel hurt, broken-hearted, physically, or emotionally tired, and sometimes even spiritually exhausted.
But it’s during those times of weakness we should be asking God, to give us that supernatural strength to keep us going. And when He does, you too will be able to soar like the eagle. You too, will be able to run and walk without feeling exhausted. In other words, God will give you the strength which you need to keep moving forward.
How do we love God with all of our strength? We need to be strong in the Lord and in His might power, if we’re going to keep moving forward, Ephesians 6:10. When we get tired and weak and feel like we can’t move forward anymore, then ask God, to give you strength. Pray that He will give you the power to fly hundreds of miles on the wings of Christ.
Loving God will all of our strength means asking God to remind us that our present troubles are only temporary, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. Loving God will all of our strength is going help us to fix on our eyes on what is eternal and not on our physical weakness.
Loving God will all of our strength means we remember that He will deliver us in our times of trouble, Psalm 34:17-18. Loving God will all of our strength is going help us to remember that God is with us, when we feel like we can’t go on.
Loving God will all of our strength means we remember not to give up when we’re weary, Galatians 6:9. Loving God will all of our strength is going help us to keep on sharing the Good News with others, even when it looks like nothing is happening.
The point I’m making is simply this, if we want to love God with all of our strength, then we really need to get out of our comfort zones. In other words, we need to get to the point when we’ve used up all of our own strength and we start to rely on His strength.
It’s easy to talk about our love for God with likeminded people. It’s easy to talk about our love for God in a religious setting. But what about outside our church circle? Loving God with all my strength means stepping out in faith. Loving God with all my strength means going out of our way, even when we’re tired and exhausted to share the Good News with others outside of our circle.
We’re called to go and share that Good News with others and we’re called to serve and care for needs of others. But all that this requires a degree of physical strength. The point I’m getting at is that loving God with all my strength is simple to say but it’s not always easy to do.
It takes a degree of strength to visit someone who is sick in hospital. It takes degree of strength to sit down and listen to someone’s problems. It takes degree of strength to help someone who has a physical or financial need.
And if we want to love God with all of our strength, then we must acknowledge that we can’t do anything without His strength working in us. Don’t tell me you don’t have the strength to share the Good News with a stranger. Don’t tell me you don’t have the strength to visit someone who is sick in hospital. Don’t tell me you don’t have the strength to sit down and listen to someone’s problems. Don’t tell me you don’t have the strength to help someone who has a physical or financial need.
Tell me you won’t, because Paul says that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, Philippians 4:13. And so, we have to remember that we can’t do anything of these things by ourselves. Paul tells us we have a strength working within us that enables us to keep on going forward, Ephesians 3:20. All the strength we have comes from God and He gives us the strength to serve Him and serve others.
If your life is anything like mine you have a hundred things to juggle like being involved in church work, work, school, a social life, hobbies, being a husband or wife. At the end of day, you may be left feeling drained, weak, and insufficient because you can’t seem to keep up with it all.
In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, we can hear Paul crying out for his challenging situation to be taken away. He felt like we sometimes feel but God has a better plan for him. Instead of removing difficult circumstances from Paul’s life, God provides a way to overcome them through strengthening him.
God always has a perfect solution and He makes that clear when He says, ‘my power is made perfect in weakness,’ 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. Because of God’s grace we can find our strength and contentment in our shortcomings. Grace meets our needs and Paul’s needs because it expresses God’s acceptance and pleasure in us.
Let me encourage you to ask God to give you the strength to do everything He requires of you, Psalm 68:35. Let me encourage you to then go and do it with the strength He gives you. Let me encourage you to love the Lord with all your strength, all your muchness, all your substance, all your possessions, everything which God has given you.
John Wesley, says the following.
‘Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.’
The contents of Deuteronomy 6:4-5, are called the ‘Shema’, by the Jews and today, we could also give it the same name, as Jesus gave the same command to Christians, Matthew 22:37-40 / Mark 12:29-31 / Luke 10:27.
The name ‘Lord’, is from the Hebrew Yahweh, meaning ‘He is’ or ‘the becoming One’ and for the Jews, it was a sacred word for God. The word was considered so sacred that they wouldn’t pronounce it with their lips and so, they used the word ‘Adonai’, which is ‘my Lord’.
God is one, and there is only one God, Deuteronomy 4:35 / Deuteronomy 4:39 / Ephesians 4:6 / 1 Timothy 2:5 / 1 Corinthians 8:4. Though He has manifested Himself throughout human history in three different ways, through the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He chose to reveal Himself only through the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in order to accomplish specific works for the salvation of the world.
Israel were to love Him with all their heart, soul, and strength, which implies we’re to love Him with everything we’ve got. In other words, God needs to be the total focus of our attention every single day of our lives, John 12:42-43 / John 14:15.
Moses asks Israel to keep these commandments in their hearts, Deuteronomy 6:6. He asks them to impress them on their children, Deuteronomy 6:7. They are to talk about these commandment when they sit at home and when they walk along the road, when they lie down and when they get up, Deuteronomy 6:7.
They are to tie them as symbols on their hands and bind them on their foreheads Deuteronomy 6:8 / Exodus 13:9 / Matthew 23:5. They are to write them on the doorframes of their houses and on their gates, Deuteronomy 6:9 / Deuteronomy 11:20.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following, concerning Deuteronomy 6:8-9.
‘From the earliest days, the Jews understood these verses as literal requirements. The ‘frontlets between the eyes,’ the binding of the commandments upon their hands, and they’re putting them on the door-posts and their gates led to three kinds of devices by which these instructions were honoured: One was the ‘tsitsith’, or fringe at the four corners of the outer garment; the others were the ‘tephillin’ and the ‘mezuzah’. The ‘tephillin’ were two small boxes about one cubic inch in size, containing the Scriptures.’
Dummelow, in his commentary, says the following, concerning Deuteronomy 6:8-9.
‘There were four Scriptural passages inside these small containers: Exodus 13:1-10 and Exodus 11:13, also Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and Deuteronomy 11:13-21. The devices called the ‘tephillin’ are referred to as ‘phylacteries’ by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 23:5, but that is the only appearance of that word in the Bible. The ‘mezuzah’, or ‘medusah’ were similar containers and were placed upon every right-hand doorpost in Jewish houses. They were also for ‘door-posts’ and for ‘your gates.’ ‘The sign was to be on the door-post of the house, representing the family unit, and upon the ‘gates’, representing the community or village.’ ‘The pious Jew touches the ‘mezuzah’ on each occasion of passing or kisses his finger and says Psalm 121:8 in Hebrew, ‘Jehovah will keep thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth and forevermore.’
Sadly, when Israel forgot the Lord, things went from bad to worse, Jeremiah 2:32 / Jeremiah 23:27 / Hoses 4:6.
Moses tells us that God blessed the Israelites with the material things of a land of milk and honey Deuteronomy 6:10-11. After forty years in the wilderness, we would think that they were initially overwhelmed by the bountiful nature of the land. Sadly, after occupying the land for many years, they began to focus on their own skills of productivity and as a result of this, they totally lost their focus on God, Proverbs 30:8-9.
Israel we were warned not forget the LORD, who brought them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, Deuteronomy 6:12 / Proverbs 30:7-9. Israel is again reminded that they must fear the Lord their God, Deuteronomy 6:13. These are the words which the devil used when tempting Jesus in the wilderness, Matthew 4:10 / Luke 4:8. Again, we’re reminded that fearing God means being obedient to Him and His commands, Matthew 10:28.
Once again, Israel is commanded to have no other gods besides the Lord God, they are not to make graven images of other gods or take the name of God in vain, Deuteronomy 6:13-14. It’s possible to take an oath in God’s name, Deuteronomy 6:13, but in the proper context, Matthew 5:33-37, and as Christians, we too can make oaths to God, since God Himself uses oaths, Hebrews 6:13. Here, Israel is being told they can make an oath but only in the Name of the LORD, not in the name of any other god.
Each of these first four commandments found in Exodus 20:1-11 / Deuteronomy 5:6-21, illustrates a heart, mind, and soul, that’s dependant exclusively upon the Lord God for help and sustenance in this life. God wants us to serve Him because it’s what we desire more than any other thing in this life. God desires our hearts to be submissive, fearful, respectful, and act in reverence toward Him rather than doing religious things for outward show, Joel 2:12-14.
Samuel had asked Saul to have such a heart, 1 Samuel 15:22-23, and David expressed such true sorrow as recorded in Psalms 51. The prophet Isaiah is described as having such a heart, Isaiah 57:15 / Isaiah 66:1-2. The apostle Paul also had such a great heart, 2 Corinthians 7:10, and Jesus summarised the first four commandments with this one statement, Matthew 22:37 / Luke 10:27.
They are also warned if they rebel against His commands, then they will face the ‘anger of the Lord their God’, Deuteronomy 6:15. The consequences would be that Israel would be wiped off the face of the earth, Deuteronomy 6:15.
Once again, God tells them that He is a jealous God, Deuteronomy 6:15 / Deuteronomy 4:24. If you look up the word ‘jealous’ in a concordance you will also come across the word ‘jealousy’, and you will be led to that striking verse which states, ‘Yahweh, whose name is Jealousy, is a jealous God’, Exodus 34:14.
The problem arises because these two words today do not mean what they meant in Old Testament times, and sustain a meaning which is different, even, from 1611, when the Authorized Version was produced. I am sure that we have all discovered, in reading the older version that problems arise because, over the years, many words have acquired very different meanings. If we had the space to spare, this fact could very easily be demonstrated.
Today we list ‘jealousy’ among such sins as ‘envy’, ‘malice’ and ‘pride’. ln fact, the Oxford Dictionary defines the word ‘jealous’ as, resentful towards another on account of known or suspected rivalry; envious. Because of this, jealousy is the motivation behind a great many of the sins that people commit. But the Old Testament word at which we are looking is ‘quanno’ and its basic meaning is, quite simply, ‘zeal’ and to be ‘jealous’, in the Old Testament sense was, with one or two rare exceptions, to be ‘zealous’ or enthusiastic or passionate.
It is in this sense that the prophet Elijah uses the word when he declares his enthusiasm for God, in 1 Kings 19:10. Similarly, when God declares that He is jealous, He tells us what it is that He is jealous of. This means that when, in Exodus 20:5, He says, ‘I am a jealous God’, He’s declaring His zealousness for the protection of His own honour as the one True God, Isaiah 42:80.
Israel is also warned not to test the Lord, Deuteronomy 6:16, that is, they weren’t to be guilty of trying God’s love and mercy. They did this in the past at Massah, Deuteronomy 6:16 / Exodus 17:1-7, and when they did, they convinced themselves that God wasn’t among them.
Israel knew God was with them, after all, they had the visible signs of the cloud by day and a pillar fire by night guiding them along. They were thirsty and began making demands upon God, rather than trusting that He would care for them as He had done with the manna and quail. The words, ‘don’t put the Lord God to the test’ Deuteronomy 6:16, were spoken by Jesus when He was in the wilderness being tempted by the devil to show a miracle in the wilderness, Matthew 4:7 / Luke 4:12.
After delivering the covenant message to Israel, Moses now lays down commandments in relationship to one’s acceptance and keeping of the law, Deuteronomy 6:17-19. God commands His people to take ‘possession’ of the land of Canaan, Deuteronomy 3:18, because, at this point in time, Canaan was possessed by the Canaanites. God promised them, that if they simply obeyed Him, He would fight for them, Deuteronomy 6:19, and so, they are commanded not to fear the people, Deuteronomy 3:22, but rather trust in God.
In the future, the Israelite sons would ask their fathers, what are the meaning of the Lord’s stipulations, decrees and laws and they would ask their fathers Who is the source of these commands, Deuteronomy 6:20. The reason the young ones would ask is simply because they hadn’t witnessed the miracles in Egypt and they hadn’t been miraculously fed and cared for in the wilderness wanderings, Ephesians 6:1-4.
Moses tells Israel they to tell their sons about God’s miraculous and wonderful works in Egypt and God’s great care for Israel, Deuteronomy 6:21-22. Israel were slaves to the Egyptians but the Lord redeemed them from Egypt Deuteronomy 6:23.
Israel were to tell their sons that they are a people who belong to God as His servants and are thereby commanded to obey His will, Deuteronomy 6:24-25. Obedience to the law of God is righteousness and so, the law is the righteousness of the people when the people obey it in response to His grace and mercy.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Later Judaism wrongly concluded that covenant keeping was the basis for righteousness rather than an expression of faithful devotion. But true covenant keeping in the final analysis is a matter of faith, not merely of works and ritual. Thus the central feature of the covenant stipulations is their providing a vehicle by which genuine saving faith might be displayed, Deuteronomy 24:13 / Habakkuk 2:4 / Romans 1:17 / Romans 4:1-5 / Galatians 3:6-7.’