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37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. (Matthew 22:37-38)
A look at God's purpose behind the purpose driven life.
 There is much talk today about the Christian's need to live a purpose driven life. I don't disagree with that at all. We do need to live a purpose driven life, no doubt about it. But I want to take a moment here to look at, from God's perspective, what that purpose is supposed to be.
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment." (Matthew 22:37-38)
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS RESTORING THE FIRST COMMANDMENT TO FIRST PLACE
There is a world-wide move of the Holy Spirit taking place in our generation. And the purpose behind that move is to bring the entire Body of Christ to the place where the first commandment, from God's perspective, is again first place in the hearts and lives of His people.
The Holy Spirit desires to impart two things to our spirits in order to restore the first commandment into first place in our lives. First, He desires to impart an understanding of what the first commandment is and what it means. He desires to give us divine insight into how to live this out in our day-to-day lives. Second, He desires to impart faith into our hearts – a holy confidence that in our brokenness, God is still able and willing to impart His fiery love into our weak human frame. He will empower us, by His Spirit, to walk out the first commandment in this age, and the ages to come.
Jesus spoke the words of Matthew 22:37-38 as part of His last public declaration in Jerusalem before going to the cross. Mark 12:30 adds the phrase, “…with all your strength.” Jesus was quoting Moses’ prophecy over the nation of Israel from Deuteronomy 30:6. Moses said that in the last days, though Israel would go astray, that they would return to the Lord.
And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. (Deuteronomy 30:6)
Jesus was not only answering the question that was addressed to Him, He was also making a prophetic declaration, He was making a promise to the whole Body of Christ. Jesus defined the commandment from Deuteronomy as the first commandment, and also as the great commandment.
Why this commandment is first
It is the first commandment because it represents the first priority to God. The number-one thing God wants to do in your life and in your ministry is to bring you to the place that you love Him as the highest priority in your life. The Church in the earth that is paying attention to what the Holy Spirit is saying and doing, will of necessity carry this dynamic as their first priority as well.
Why this commandment is great
It is the great commandment in terms of its impact on God’s heart. The small movements of love in our hearts greatly impacts God. It is also great in terms of its impact in our own hearts. Putting this commandment first changes our emotions over time. It safeguards and prepares us to impact the nations of the world and the unbelievers with a viable witness of God's heart (the gospel).
WHY GOD CALLS US TO LOVE HIM WITH OUR ALL
God calls us to love Him with all of our heart and strength because He loves us with all of His heart, all of His soul, all of His mind, and all of His strength – this is the foundational premise of our relationship (our intimacy) with God. He wants us to love Him in exactly the same way He loves us. He wants a relationship in which we are equally yoked together with Him in love.
But what about loving others?
The ministry impact we have on others is dynamic, it is good, and it is God - but it is secondary. If you love God, you will love others far better, and your ministry toward others will be far more consistent and far more effective.
Lovesick worshippers make the best intercessors. It is a proven fact that lovers out work workers, every time. Workers get tired, and eventually they quit their work. But lovers carry a sense of the reward in their heart – the pleasure of feeling loved by God and the anointing to love Him in return - so they don't count the cost, or feel the burden - they are lovers.
THE MINISTRY-ORIENTED CHURCH
So much of the Church today is all wrapped up with ministry to the world, or even ministry to the Church. But if ministry is your primary dynamic, it is crippled, even though our motives and intentions are pure and right.
Jesus made the following statement to a Church that had right motives and right works:
1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:... 2 ‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil... 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first..." (Revelation 2:1-5)
Jesus spoke of the Ephesian church as laboring in ministry for His name’s sake without growing weary. Yet, His charge against them was that they did not love Him in the way that they used to love Him. He describes them as having fallen from a place of loving Him wholeheartedly. He calls them, not to quit their works - which were good - but to repent (change the way they thought about the works they were doing) and return to their once fiery, devotional focus upon Him.
The enemy wants us to let our minds stray from the simplicity of a pure devotion to Jesus.
But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3)
What is a sincere and pure devotion to Christ?
First, pure devotion begins with an understanding of how God feels about us - especially in our weakness. But understanding how God feels about us is not enough. We must go on from there and set the first commandment as the highest priority of our heart, and make it our soul’s primary focus. God will not force us to have this focus in our lives. True love must be voluntary, or it is not true love. We have to choose to make loving Him the highest priority in our heart and life.
Every man is as close to God as he wants to be. And that closeness is proved by how we steward our time, our money and our resources.
So, how close are you choosing to be to Jesus?
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