Deuteronomy 6:1-15 – LOVING GOD
Does it sound trite if I say, “God loves you”?
It’s a statement you have heard often.
It’s a statement that you usually don’t reflect upon when you hear it.
But nonetheless, it is a true statement!
God’s love appears in the first verse of the Bible!
Genesis 1:1- “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
It is God who loved us enough to create the world in all its beauty.
It is God who loved us enough to create every living creature, including you and I.
If God didn’t love us, we would be here.
God’s love doesn’t stop with creation. Every man and woman, boy and girl has disobeyed God. We’ve all blown it! In His love, God sent His Son to pay for the sins that we have committed. In paying for our sins, God made it possible for every person to have forgiveness of sin, and everlasting life! John 3:16
Now, must of you hearing this message have already experienced forgiveness of sin, and are on your way to heaven. God’s love continues towards you.
Because God loves you as His child, He has promised to never leave or to forsake you. Hebrews 13:5
Because God loves you, He answers your prayers. Matthew 7:7-11
Because God loves you, He, through the Holy Spirit, lives inside of you. Romans 8:9
Because God loves you, we are promised that nothing can separate us from that love in Romans 8:38-39.
Now, if you are saved and know that you are going to Heaven, what is the logical response to God’s love? WE ARE TO LOVE HIM IN RETURN! 1 John 4:19
How can we go about loving God? Deuteronomy 6:1-12 shows us how.
Vss. 4-5 give us the central theme of the passage preached by Moses before the Children of Israel entered the Promised Land.
Vs. 4 reminds us that there is but one God.
What does the existence of one true God mean to you and I as Christians?
He alone is to be worshipped in our lives.
He is to be considered first when we make a decision.
Pleasing Him should be the most important thing in the world.
After all, he is God! What does it matter what anyone else thinks?
Anyone else is just human like you!
Vs. 5 – Love for God is to a total commitment. All that is inside of me, the real me, heart and soul, is to love God. All my strength is to go into loving God.
If you love God, He will be the principle part of your decision making process. You will want to please Him, want to talk to Him, want to talk about Him, want to spend time with Him. You will want to read His love letters, the Bible. You will want to understand His word. You will want to listen to music about Him, and music dedicated to Him. You will want others to experience the same love relationship that you have experienced.
This kind of love for God is impossible without God’s help.
It is the Holy Spirit who will assist us. When the Spirit of God fills us, we will be successful in loving God the way He wants to be loved. Ephesians 5:18-20
When we love God as Verse 5 tells us to, with all our heart, soul and might, certain things will be true of us.
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD, FEARS GOD – Vs. 2
If I love God with all my heart, soul, and strength, I will reverence Him. I will respect Him. I will be afraid to displease Him.
If I love Him, He will have the reverence of my praise.
If I love Him, He will have the reverence of respectful approach to Him in Jesus’ name.
If I love Him, He will have the reverence of my speaking well of Him. Nobody can take the Lord’s name in vain and truly claim to love Him.
If I love Him, His Word will be respected.
If I love Him, I will realize that disobedience hurts Him, and is a show of disrespect.
If I love Him, I will realize that I am accountable to Him, that He is my judge, and disobedience breaks his Heart.
If I love Him, there is only one sentence necessary from the mouth of my master, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD, OBEYS GOD – Vs. 2
We do not keep commands in order to earn our way into Heaven or to stay saved. Hebrews 10:14
We keep his commands because we love Him.
Much of the Old Testament Law is no longer necessary for us to keep, such as the sacrifices and keeping of holy days. This is because Christ has fulfilled these things.
But Jesus did say, “If you love me keep my commandments.” John 14:15
And Jesus did say, “Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.” John 15:14
1 John 5:3 says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD REMEMBERS GOD’S WORD – Vs. 6
The words that Moses was giving the Israelites were the Words of God.
These were words worth remembering. These were valuable words. We try to remember important things, like dates, instructions, appointments, and valuable sayings. What could be more valuable than remembering the Word of God? Hiding God’s Word in your heart is very valuable, not only because God tells us we should, but because of what it will do for you.
Hiding God’s Word in your heart will:
Keep you from sin. Psalm 119:11
Lead you to obey. – Joshua 1:8
Help you to pray. – John 15:7
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD TEACHES HIS CHILDREN VS. 7
Your goal should be to train you children in the things of God!
Your God is the true God. Your children need to know that!
They will see God as you live the Christian life before them.
They will learn of God, as you talk about the Word of God at the table and at appropriate places in your travels.
When God answers a prayer, tell your children.
When God shows you something special in his Word, show them.
When God gives you a special blessing, tell them.
When God takes care of you during a trial, share it.
And be sure to read the Bible together as a family!
Also be sure to apply god’s word to the problems and successes that your child is experiencing.
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD KEEPS GOD’S WORD IN VIEW Vss. 8-9
God’s Word is not something to be forgotten,
It is something that should be in our view, and the view of our families.
We can literally place it in front of our eyes with plaques.
We can literally put it into our hands and read it!
We can literally put it before our minds eye through memorization.
THE ONE WHO LOVES GOD TAKES PRECAUTIONS TO REMEMBER GOD Vss. 10-12
The Israelites were warned that God’s goodness would lead to their complacency. They had to be careful not to get so comfortable in their new land, that they forget the Lord and slip into idolatry.
In Verse 12, the Israelites are not to forget Egypt.
They were not to forget the bondage.
They were not to forget the slavery.
They were not to forget that God had delivered them!
We are to do the same. Egypt reminds me of the bondage of sin.
We are to never forget what god has delivered us out of.
We must never forget the slavery that sin causes, and the great victory that Jesus gave us.
We must continually remember that it was the grace of God that delivered us.