Jesus replied, “’You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ – Matthew 22:37 NLT
Being half in with anything in life, simply doesn’t cut it. Whether it be a job, a relationship, and especially our faith, we need to be all in. Think about it this way, if you wanted to lose weight and get in shape but only ate healthy and exercised a few days a week and the others were in a junk food fest on the sofa, there probably wouldn’t be stellar results. And I speak from first-hand experience of casually trying to live out my faith but also going my own way at the same time. I would read my Bible and read all the books and devotionals I could get my hands on. I would listen to Christian music and follow the Christian blogs, but I was still so far off because my prayer life was severely lacking. I would pray but only desperate pleading prayers when things seemed hopeless. I didn’t have the life-changing, soul-altering, deep love of God where I craved spending time with Him. Where my thoughts were constantly on Him. Where every moment of my day was in some sort of connection with Him. And because of that, I got out of the relationship what I put into it. I felt distant, yet He never left me. I felt like He cared but also wouldn’t help me. Yet all of those things were lies. I believed them though, because I didn’t have my focus where it needed to be. I felt far, because I wasn’t drawing near.
Maybe you can relate; you want to adjust your focus, to be all in, to love with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind, but you just don’t know how to. When I decided it was time to be all in with my faith and my relationship with God, I changed my ways to actually BE all in. So, if this feels like you, I encourage you to analyze areas of your day that you can make changes in order to draw near to Him all day long. Meaning, take your Bible wherever you go, if you have downtime scroll through the pages instead of scrolling your newsfeed. While you drive, turn off the radio and talk to God out loud as if He is in the seat next to you. Carry a journal with you, yes, an actual paper and pen and write to Him when you can’t pray out loud. In the morning greet Him before you greet anyone else. When you are plagued with a trouble, come to Him before you go to anyone else. Close your eyes and picture Him right there with you, because He is. When you are overwhelmed, meditate on who the Bible says He is and the attributes of Him, and soon the problem will pale in comparison. Pray as you fall asleep at night, I don’t think He will be offended when you doze off mid-sentence. In fact, I think He will love that you find talking to Him restful. Study the Scriptures and learn from Jesus; forgive, love, and make room for people.
Yes, our days are busy and lives can be hard. Yes, there are going to be distractions at every turn. But we make time for the things and people we love, and with Jesus there is no greater love.
