Loving The Lord With All Our Heart, Soul And Might

Dt 6:5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” As we saw last week, the word heart is a very rich biblical term for the totality of man’s nature. It refers to the controlling center of our lives from which flow all of life’s issues, Pro 4:23. Issues is from the Hebrew word meaning to go out, as from one location to another. It is heavily featured in the Exodus, the primary event in the Old Testament, with respect to the Lord’s monergistic redemption of His people by bringing them out of Egypt, Ex 3:10-12; 6:13, 26-27; etc., the house of bondage, Jer 34:13; etc., into the land flowing with milk and honey. As such, the heart is understood to mean the source from which is brought out all “the stuff” of life. All our intellectual, ethical, volitional and emotional thoughts are stored in the heart whence they are brought forth in speech, actions, attitudes, perspectives, and so on. Thus, we are commanded to be vigilant, to post guard, to stand as military sentinels over our hearts with diligence, urgency and steadfastness. If our hearts are pure, our lives will be pure; if we are corrupt, our lives will be corrupt. The heart is the fountain from which springs forth all the proceedings of life.

The heart that is pure turns toward God and loves him as stated in Dt 6:5. On the other hand, the heart that is corrupt turns away from God to serve other gods. Such was the sad case of King Solomon whose: “.. Hwives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.” 1 Ki 11:3-4. Solomon’s tragic example is not one of a minor mistake, a cursory lapse of concentration or a slight and negligible oversight but a deep-seated, conscious turning away from his God, an apostasy that springs forth from the darkness of his depraved heart. Our Lord Jesus Christ similarly warns us that from a defiled heart springs “.. evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” Mt 15:19.

So, what does God mean when He commands us to love Him with all our heart, soul and might?

Overall, it means that we are to love God with a total, unswerving, uncompromising devotion; with a consuming zeal that involves every aspect of our being- our intellect, will, emotion, etc. It is a devotion that pervades (issues forth into) all dimensions of life. It involves not only genuine affection but also, a deep commitment. Specifically:

• with all your heart means wholeheartedly. See above. The psalmist gives us an idea of this meaning when he prays, “ .. unite my heart to fear your name.” Ps 86:11. This points to him an undivided heart that is not torn in its loyalty to its God. Jesus also affirms the same truth to His disciples: ““No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Mt 6:24.
• with all your soul denotes with your whole being, that is, according to whom you really are.
• with all your might signifies with your complete physical functions and activities.

In summary, this command means that God’s people are to love Him completely and continuously, genuinely and generously, in such a way that He has our unrivalled attention, commitment and devotion.

It is unmistakable that biblically speaking, love is not simply an emotion. It is an action, a command of God. It is a deliberate, conscious, intelligent response to God’s character- one God, Dt 6:4 (versus the many gods of the pagan nations) and His work on behalf of His people- He had sovereignly redeemed them from Egyptian captivity and had brought them unto Himself, for Himself, as His people belonging exclusively to him: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, .. and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” ” Ex 19: 4-6.

Lastly, note that this love takes place within a relationship, a structured relationship introduced by the Lord Himself, a covenant relationship. God, the redeeming Lord and sovereign Master, inaugurates this relationship with His creatures after He graciously redeems them from slavery and binds Himself to them while at the same time binding them to Him, in an eternal covenantal bond. Within this context therefore, to love God is to obey him.

This is the God who requires us to love Him completely. This is the love that the Triune God requires of His people. How do we measure?