Today I want to pick up a theme we touched on in January when we looked at the Shema. And we begin by looking at Mark 12:29-30:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord alone is God. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
This is Jesus quoting Deuteronomy 6:4-5. Would you say it with me?
Alright, let me remind you of two things about this –
Call for commitment to God
1) God wants every part of us. We are to love God with our
- heart
- soul
- mind
- and strength
This covers every part of us, both our inner person and our strength or body. God claims all of us, not just part of us. Everything within us and everything else.
2) God wants all of every part of us
- not just part of our heart – but all of our heart
- not just piece of our soul – but all of our soul
- not just a portion of our mind – but all of our mind
- not just a percentage of our strength – but all of our strength
God wants every part of every part of you.
But . . . what we actually do is usually far short of what God demands. What we actually give God is, often, just a part of ourselves. We do this in different ways. We have what I call –
Strategies of commitment avoidance
These are ways in which we hold back on giving ourselves fully to God. We will look at several examples of these.
1. We give God the stuff that doesn’t require sacrifice. Honor my parents? Sure! That’s easy. They are good and noble people. But love my enemies – who harm me, slander me, threaten to kill me? No way!
God wants even what seems too difficult for you to give
2. We give God the stuff that makes us look good. Be honest? Well it’s hard, but sure, I’ll get a good reputation out of it. But when God asks me to share my faith with my coworkers? No way! That would embarrass me. They might disapprove of me or make fun of me.
God wants all of you, even if it causes you shame.
3. We give God the religious stuff and keep the rest for ourselves. Sure, I will go to church and say a prayer now and again. But order my private life according to God’s will? You know, let God control who I date, who I marry, my sex life, what career I have, how I run my business, what I do with my money. No way!
God wants control of your private life.
4. We give God the stuff that doesn’t take much faith. Yes, I will serve God here and there. But serve God when it means leaving my family, friends and home for a time overseas or somewhere else, or leave for ever? Not a chance!
God wants you to love him even when it stretches you to the breaking point – beyond what your faith can think or imagine.
5. We give stuff to God when the giving is easy. We give of ourselves when the circumstances are conducive. Sure, I will give some offerings. I’m doing pretty well now. But give sacrificially, when I have trouble paying my bills? No way. Or another example – sure, I will praise you when my life is easy and comfortable. But praise you when I am sick, disabled or poor? Certainly not!
God wants all of you all the time, not just when it is convenient or easy for you.
6. We give God the bad stuff in our lives – our problems, our crises, our needs. Sure God, take all this and fix it for me so that we can keep on living my comfortable life of complacence and half-hearted commitment, just like I always have. But give God my career, my resources, my creativity, my best time and focus. No way!
God wants our best, not our leftovers.
I said “strategies,” but really these are all one strategy. All of these have in common that we give a part instead of the whole. And we hope that that will be enough; and God will be happy with that! We think that we can appease God by giving him a part of us and not the whole of us. But God wants it all!
But you say, pastor . . .
Is God demanding too much?
Well think about it. God is only asking for what is rightfully his, for what God makes, God owns. Psalm 95:5 says, “The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.” What God makes is rightfully God’s. And this applies to us. V. 6 goes on to say, “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!” God has made us and we are his. And so, as the verse says, we are to give ourselves fully in worship and submission to our Maker.
God made us and it is only right that we give ourselves fully to God.
Also, God is only asking from us, what he has already given to us in Jesus – everything. Romans 8:32 says, “God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all.” Thankfully God didn’t hold back with regard to us and leave us hanging. God’s commitment to us is complete. God gave us everything in Jesus. And we should give God everything in return.
Think about in from another perspective. If we are holding out on God we are still in control. If I set the terms, if I tell God what he can have and what he can’t have in my life, then I am still in control – even if I give over most of myself to God most of the time. I am still in control!
Half hearted commitment isn’t commitment. To be committed to God means to give God everything. That’s why he asks for it all.
Finally –
Let Jesus be your example in this
Jesus was like us in all things (except sin). Hebrews 4:15 tells us that he knew human weakness, limitations and temptations. But he gave every part of every part of himself to God.
- Jesus held nothing back
- Jesus loved God completely – heart, soul, mind and strength
- Jesus gave himself fully to God
May God give you the strength and courage to overcome your fears, so that just like Jesus you give yourself fully to God.
William Higgins
Christian teaching 