Church was so good today. It can get lonely out here sometimes, being so far away from my parents and not being able to get together with friends out here too often. I greatly enjoy the fellowship with other believers, there are a lot of very godly, wonderful people at our church. Today, our regular chaplain was off, so someone else gave the sermon. What a great encouragement it was!
He began with the familiar passage of Matthew 22:37-38:
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment."
Have you ever really thought about this verse? Really dug deeper and taken a good look at it, then applied it to yourself? The whole sermon was excellent, and I wish I had remembered the whole thing, but I can't mention everything he said, so I will write on what I learned.
I've thought about love, especially during this past year as I prepared to be married, and I've thought a lot about loving God for quite a long time, but never seemed to really grasp what it means to love Him. I have the unfortunate tendency of leaning heavily on emotion rather than my head, it's gotten me in trouble quite a few times. So, when I think of loving God, I usually associate the word "love" with feelings; with having emotions of longing for God and desire. I've had difficulty finding the line between having zealous emotions and having the pure will power to pursue Him.
One thing that the speaker said was "You become what you think. What is it that you most often think of?" He gave an example of how his wife was always thinking about nursing, wanting to become a nurse. Years later, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and practiced it for 30 years. He then went on to say that if your thoughts are constantly on God, and on how to love Him, serve Him, please Him, that is who you will become. It really made me ponder. What do I usually think on? I want to please God, but is it REALLY the foremost thing in my thoughts? I don't think it is. It convicted me, and inspired me at the same time. Now I think I really do understand how to love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. On a side note, I've also learned from experience that feelings follow thoughts. If I will myself to devote all of my time, thoughts, attention on Him, it must follow that I will begin to feel longing and desire for Him.
Another thing I got from this message was this: you can glorify God in ANYTHING you do. (Unless it's sin of course.) This means that all the menial things I do every day - scrubbing the toilet, organizing, vacuuming, doing the dishes, sweeping the floor, exercising, listening to music, singing - can be used for God's glory. I knew this before, but it was such a refreshing reminder. Lately I've struggled with feeling worthless, like I need to do big, important things to be a worthwhile human being. I feel tied down sometimes, wanting to travel the world, get a college degree, get a big career even, just something to make me feel as though I am worth something. But I am reminded now that I can do anything for His glory, and that is my chief end. I must decrease, and He must increase. Nothing could be more worthwhile.
For His glory,
~Erin
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