Love the Lord your God with . . . all your strength.

Devotion based on Deuteronomy 6:5

Who gets our best effort? Who in our lives gets our all? It isn’t always our boss, as we spend valuable minutes of our workday checking Facebook or managing our fantasy football teams. It also isn’t always our kids as we half-heartedly play catch in the backyard while talking on the phone with a client. And it certainly isn’t always our spouse when we can’t even look up from our screen while they tell us about their day.

In our Bible reading today, we find God demanding one thing from us: “Love the Lord your God with all your strength.” But there are some days that we barely have the strength to get out of bed, let alone serve or worship God. Many days, we hardly have enough time to enjoy our hobbies, let alone study the Bible. We all have limited strength, and often, God does not get all of it—even when we try to give our best effort. So often, we lack the strength required to love and serve our God.

When we fall short, we look to the One who did not. Jesus gave every ounce of strength he had in his service to God. It took strength that you and I can only imagine as he endured the flogging and ridicule that came his way. He dug deep and found the strength to carry that cross up the hill, knowing his enemies would nail him to it. Jesus found the strength to stay on the cross and suffer and die even though he had not done anything wrong. Jesus’ love for God and for you and me was so strong that he gave his life in our place.

Then, his strength was on full display as he rose from the dead, forever defeating death for us.

So, the next time you are lacking strength in your life of faith, look to Jesus. The One who lived and died for you will give you renewed strength to love the Lord and serve him in your life.

Prayer: