Deuteronomy 6:5

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (NASB)

STRONGS HEBREW/GREEK ORIGINS

“You shall love ('ahab: friend, beloved, lovely, lover, lovely, have an appetite for) the LORD your God with all your heart (lebab: seat of emotions, understanding, inner man, mind, inner parts) and with all your soul (nephesh: life, person, mind, heart, body, will, desire) and with all your might (me`od: greatly, exceeding, force, abundance, to a great degree).”

SUMMARY

You shall have an appetite for your lover, the LORD your God, with all you emotions and inner parts, and with all your mind, soul and it’s desires and with all of your great abundance.

MEDITATION

On this Valentine’s Day that is set aside for couples to show their love for one another, a great parallel became quite obvious to me. Some may errantly see it as arrogance or misinterpret what I’m about to say as prideful, but that’s OK. Today is just another day in my wonderful marriage with my beautiful wife! How can I say such a thing? Because I love her daily! I continually strive to lavish my love on her. I don’t wait for some special occasion when I supposedly have to. Here is where the great parallel comes in. My “love life” with the LORD must be likewise. He is not looking for a one-night stand where I pop in and out to get to know Him or love Him out of obligation - this is not love. He desires me to cultivate an ongoing relationship that never misses a day or even a moment! Am I in need of growth in this relationship? Could I give even more and love Him more deeply? You’d better believe it – and in my marriage as well! But I rest in the fact that I am in love and I am loved. I daily see my marriage reflect the relationship that I have with my Husband, The Christ. Today, lavish your love on your spouse and on your LORD, but be sure that tomorrow (and every day after) is no different than today, for everyday, we “shall love”.