Hosanna Restoration Church

Today is a very important day. It is a day that the Lord has given us all. What we do with today is our choice. It is just like every other day. Have you ever noticed that it takes a long time for children to comprehend what is today, what was yesterday, and when is tomorrow? Yesterday can be two years ago. Tomorrow is still tomorrow even when it gets here, because we called it tomorrow and they don’t grasp that.

Well, God said today is a day to hear His voice. If you think about it, as adults we forget a lot of the today stuff. So often I see people missing the good of today either because they won’t let go of yesterday or they are to caught up in concern for tomorrow. What God wants is for us to use yesterday only to learn from, and keep our hope in Him for tomorrow. If we do that, today is always pretty great, and even when it isn’t we can overcome what ever comes against us by doing what God says. You know, “Forget what is behind and reach for the prize…”

Well, today when I went to be alone with God, I had to go through the usual process of getting all my wondering thoughts out of the way. Finally I asked God, “what can I do for you today?” His answer was simple. “Love Me in everything to do and say.” It was simple when I first heard it, but it did not take long for me to say to the Lord, “you will have to help me a lot, I could never do this on my own.”

The more I thought about it, I considered the importance of loving God. I noticed that He did not say go to church. He did not say read your bible. He did not say pray all day. He did not say one religious thing that He required. He simply said, “Love me in all you do and say.” Now some would say that all of the other things are included in this, and if you don’t do the other things, then you are not truly loving God. Well, I agree that most of the other comes as a result of loving God, but they are not required as a means of proving that we love Him.

I have seen a lot of people who would rather do the works than just plain love God. I have also seen many people who decided they could not work enough to please God and give up trying. Sometimes we just don’t take the time to grow enough in faith or give others the opportunity to grow, so that the works become a natural overflow of the love we have for God.

Well, as I was considering all of this as I checked my email before writing this devotion. And there in my mail box was God’s confirmation of this devotion. A dear friend had written to me to tell me how he appreciated receiving these. He went on to tell me how He loved the Lord, but in so many words was not sure how well he was measuring up. Well, the first and greatest commandment is that we love the Lord. From there, the rest will follow if we just keep loving Him.

I wonder how many people will sit in church today, but never consider writing to someone and telling them that they love the Lord. No wonder the Apostle Paul said that He was not ashamed of the Gospel. God wants our love. If He gets our love, He knows He will get our service because we always want to serve the one we love. Today is day to grow in our love for God.