11th. February. 2022. Daily Devotion.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. — Deuteronomy 6:4-5
This text is called the Shema by Jews. Shema is the Hebrew word for “Hear this!” or “Listen!” This command from Deuteronomy is at the heart of Judaism. Many Jews facing extermination in Nazi camps during World War II quoted this text as they were about to be killed.
There is one God. God exists independently of this world. God made this world. God loves this world. God is the one we should love most.
What do you love most? What do you desire most? Whatever that is will define who you are and what you do.
In his parting words to the people of Israel in Deuteronomy, the prophet Moses leaves no doubt about loving God most. He says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Every aspect of life must aim toward the love of God with nothing excluded.
If you love the true God, you will follow his commands with every aspect of your life. In so doing, you will free yourself from the disappointment of serving false gods.
It is not surprising that this text is the principal command for God followers. It directs our entire life.
May we love you, O God—not our idea of you, not an ideology about you, not a controllable caricature of you. Help us to love the one true God, with all our heart, soul, and strength. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Live with Me
Lord Christ, I have betrayed you by following my own way, and I have denied you by fearing to follow yours. I have mocked you by forgetting the agony and importance of your death. I am lost, O Jesus: Let your forgiveness find me. Hold me in your strong arms and give me your new life. Live in me and with me day by day, that my heart may be made anew within me, and that together we may show the world a new and better path. Amen.
Creator God, drive away despair from our politics, revive our dreams of justice and truth, and restore our passion for what is good and right. Establish your just and gentle rule throughout the world especially where there is conflict; where peace seems so far away and so many have lost everything, even the faint hope of a peaceful future.
Prayer in Stormy Weather
Lord, every time the tide is high, and the gales blow in, we remember you stilled the storm. Bless those surrounded by the sea, with their lives dictated by tides, their goods and produce dependent on ships finding safe harbour.
Every time the tractor ploughs the field, and the picker gathers the crop, we remember you sow seeds of life. Bless those surrounded by agriculture, with their lives dictated by the seasons, their goods and produce dependent on the weather and the land.
Every time we see a plane in flight and turn our heads to the sky, we remember you made us your children. Bless those who fly, with their lives dictated by the winds and fog, our goods and produce flying through the heavens to find their way to our homes. Amen.
