INTRO: Love or Obsession?
Have you ever fallen in love with someone? When you fall in love with someone, you would think about him/her all day. When I was in college, when I first saw her, I wished her to be my girlfriend. Finally, we became friends! As I learned that she had a good feeling about me, it was so exciting and felt like I had the whole world. But our relationship lasted only for one year. I didn’t know how to make our relationship grow and mature. Through disappointments and disputes, finally, we broke up.
I thought it was love, but it was an obsession. Love is a sacrifice for that person. Joyfully and willingly. Love is to find the meaning of your life in that person’s well being. Who can love this way? The only one who has an infinite supply of life and joy can love this way. Who is this? GOD!
If you don’t get God’s love, you cannot love others. If you don’t love God, you cannot learn how to love. Do you want to have a happy family? First, love your God!
LOVE God with all your heart and all your life (v4-5)
4 Listen, Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!
5 You must love the LORD your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength. Love your God because He first loved you and loves you still. He laid down all of his life.
DO YOU LOVE GOD? (personal question) HOW DO YOU KNOW that? If you love God, you would sacrifice your money and time, even your life, willingly and joyfully. We say we love God but fail Him many times. We ought to grow in loving God, it is for our benefits.
God is invisible. How to love Him? This is the principle. Read v6-9
6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind,
7 and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up.
8 You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm and fasten them as symbols on your forehead.
9 Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and gates.
Have God’s words in your life (v6-9)
Read, meditate, talk God’s words ALWAYS, not only on Sunday.
As you love someone, you would think about that person day and night. You would read love letters again and again and mediate what she said and what she did. If you want to love God, you should have God’s words in your heart.
Find how many places you need to have God’s words. Mind (v6), mouth (v7), forearm (v8), forehead (v8), doorframes (v9). And it should be always. You should remember God’s words while you sit, walk, lie down, or get up. Every second of life.
Do you do this? If not, start doing today. Have God’s words on your phone screen, on your desk, on your computer monitor! When you wake up, open the Bible not the phone. When you have free time, talk to God and think about His words, not internet surfing.
It doesn’t say you should obey God’s words perfectly. Just have God’s words in your heart, in your thoughts and plan, in your plan.
If you put God’s words in your heart, what would you do? Read v10-15
10 Then when the LORD your God brings you to the land he promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you– a land with large, fine cities you did not build,
11 houses filled with choice things you did not accumulate, hewn out cisterns you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant– and you eat your fill,
12 be careful not to forget the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, that place of slavery.
13 You must revere the LORD your God, serve him, and take oaths using only his name.
14 You must not go after other gods, those of the surrounding peoples,
15 for the LORD your God, who is present among you, is a jealous God and his anger will erupt against you and remove you from the land.
First, appreciate God’s love (in the past) and worship Him only (v10-15)
They got houses they didn’t build. They got vineyards they didn’t plant. They were satisfied with plentiful foods they didn’t labor for.
All we have was given by God. Especially, your salvation and privilege as children of God. Heavenly inheritance. Whatever you pray, your Father in heaven answers to your prayer. Worshiping God is expressing our appreciation for God’s love in the past.
Also, worshipping God is, in other words, “loving God.” Do not express your love for others. Make sure God is the only god you serve. Look at v14. V14 says, ‘You must not go after other gods, those of the surrounding people.” If your priority is the same as non-believer friends, you are serving the same gods they serve. Their gods are money, People, success, or reputation.
Remember, when you put something before God, God is not happy because He is a jealous God. If you trust humans more than God, if you love playing games more than God, if you seek money more than Jesus, God will teach you a lesson to return to God, if you are a His child. Please make coming to the Lord, especially Sunday service, one of the highest priorities in your life.
Second, Trust God’s love (in the future blessings) and obey His words (now) (v16-19)
Read v16 -19
16 You must not put the LORD your God to the test as you did at Massah.
17 Keep his commandments very carefully, as well as the stipulations and statutes he commanded you to observe.
18 Do whatever is proper and good before the LORD so that it may go well with you and that you may enter and occupy the good land that he promised your ancestors,
19 and that you may drive out all your enemies just as the LORD said.
Massah (v16) was the place where they complained about water. They didn’t trust God who would provide water as He had brought them to that place. Don’t evaluate and analyze the result when following God’s commands. Trust that it is for your blessings. Just obey.
When we doubt God’s love in His asking us to obey, we hesitate to follow God’s will. Even though He seems leading you to the valley of death, just go when it is clear that God is leading that direction.
Don’t be distracted visible result or threat, only focus on God’s words. That’s why v17 says, “Keep his commandments very carefully.” Then, God will bring blessings at His time. Blessings might be delayed, but surely coming. Trust and obey. God’s commandments are to bring good for us.
So far, we talked about remembering God’s love in the past and expecting God’s love in the future. How could we live in God’s love present daily life? Read v20-25
20 When your children ask you later on, "What are the stipulations, statutes, and ordinances that the LORD our God commanded you?"
21 you must say to them, "We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt in a powerful way.
22 And he brought signs and great, devastating wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on his whole family before our very eyes.
23 He delivered us from there so that he could give us the land he had promised our ancestors.
24 The LORD commanded us to obey all these statutes and to revere him so that it may always go well for us and he may preserve us, as he has to this day.
25 We will be innocent if we carefully keep all these commandments before the LORD our God, just as he demands.”
Third, Stay in God’s love through the daily walk with the Lord (v20-25)
As we worship every Sunday while others go on picnics, as we bring offerings and tithes while others use their money for themselves, as we sacrifice for the Lord while others exploit Jesus’s grace for their benefits, as we put Jesus first while others put themselves first, they will ask us, “why are you doing all these waste of time and money?” Then, we will explain what the Lord has done on the cross so that we have the hope of eternal life. Then, our hearts will be filled with Jesus’ love that He has chosen me.
V25, “we will be innocent when we carefully follow God’s commandments.” There will be no barrier between God and us. It is called our righteousness. In such a right relationship with God, we would experience God’s love in everyday life. This is how to we stay in God’s love. What a great privilege!
Do you want to feel God’s love all the more? Let God’s words infiltrate into every part of your life. Use your life for God and according to His will. Pick your job for Jesus. Choose your college for the Lord. Use your marriage for God’s glory. Every decision you make should be for God. Is this too much? Choking? That’s what Jesus did for ME. What about you? Did Jesus do for you as well? Then, throw your whole life for Jesus.
CLOSING
No one can love without knowing God’s love. Because God is love.
What is love? Without a marriage vow, true love doesn’t start. Without your commitment in faith, your relationship with God doesn’t start.
Do you love God? Or do you want to start loving God today? Loving God is to remember God’s love in the past, to expect God’s love in the future, and to live in God’s love through daily obedience. Love your God with all your life for He first loved you so. It is good for you.
