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

Devotion based on Deuteronomy 6:5

It is a common thing today for people to make the statement that they are spiritual but not religious. It is not difficult to understand some of the circumstances that can lead to this way of thinking. Perhaps the individual has been burned by churches in the past, and the bad experience has soured the individual on organized religion. Such an individual may be seeking to hold religion at arm’s length to feel safe.

On the other hand, claiming to be spiritual but not religious can be nothing more than a claim to practice religion the way I want to practice religion so as not to have to answer to God or anyone else. It can perhaps be an issue of control, not even acknowledging that God is the captain of the ship. In any case, we are often reluctant to love God with all our souls.

To truly love God means to admit that spirituality it is not all about my feelings. Nor is it about what I want. To love God with all my soul is to give up control. It means to trust in someone else rather than myself. It means acknowledging that I don’t have it all figured out and trusting someone else to figure it out for me. This means putting ourselves out there and being vulnerable. To put it another way, loving God with all my soul means believing he is the only one who can safely guide my soul to heaven.

And let me assure you, God is worthy of that trust. He has demonstrated concern for our souls and a willingness to do whatever it takes to save them. He did this by keeping his promise to send his only Son to come into this world and to defeat sin, death, and the devil. A Son who would live, die, and rise again, all to ensure that our souls would be safe now and forever. Our souls are in good hands with God. Love him with all your soul.

Prayer: