When Moses was giving his last words to Israel, he told them that loving God was first, everything else was secondary.
He equated the person of God, Deuteronomy 30:20, and the word of God, Deuteronomy 32:47, with life itself.
Not only was God their life, he was to be the love of their life. Who God is and what God said were to be met by Israel with a heart of love.
The success of the individual families and the nation as a whole was directly connected to loving God first in all that they did. Hear the urgency in Moses’ challenge:
Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, love the Lord your God, obey him, and remain faithful to him. For he is your life…
Jesus echos these words when he was asked what were the greatest commandments. This is what he said:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.
Priority on the love of God is huge. It is huge for you and your family. What Moses and Jesus are telling us is that if we want to love God we have to love his word. How centered on God and his word is your family? Does the love of God dominate your home?
The answer is: of course, you want to love God, but how does that happen practically? Here is how it happens! Loving God is practical. Love is patient, love is kind, loves doesn’t engage in anger. Love is showing other people how special Jesus is.
This means you start each day thanking God for another day to love him and the people close to you. It means your first thoughts are of who need to be shown support this day. It means you let everyone in your family know that you are grateful for them, even if they gave you a hard time yesterday. It means asking God to give you the wisdom and desire to bring honor to him instead of yourself. It means asking God to give you a spirit of joy that you know him.
Love is following God’s word because God is special to you. You love God because he is your life. Start here. Live here. Make your life about the love of God!
Make God first!