You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. — DEUTERONOMY 6:5
Love and obedience are everywhere connected in Scripture. For example, Jesus tells His disciples to make more disciples of every nation and to teach them to obey everything that He commands (Matt. 28:18–20). Elsewhere, Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). So, as we consider Jesus as Lord, as the one true God of creation, we ought to love and obey Him.
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We cannot separate this verse from the one preceding it, which begins with the confession that the Lord alone is God. For if there is no God but the Lord, that means that He alone created the world, that He alone blesses, protects, provides, and saves. Whom else should we or could we love? He ought to occupy our exclusive love, which includes both devotion and obedience. This passage, in fact, conveys the covenant relationship between Israel and the Lord God, with “love” carrying the idea of covenant obligation and legal demand.
Love and obedience are everywhere connected in Scripture. For example, Jesus tells His disciples to make more disciples of every nation and to teach them to obey everything that He commands (Matt. 28:18–20). Elsewhere, Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). So, as we consider Jesus as Lord, as the one true God of creation, we ought to love and obey Him.
The love that God expects is wholehearted, encompassing every aspect of who we are—our minds, our strength, our time, and our very souls. Our daily priority is to seek out those areas in our lives that are not fitting for the kind of love that Jesus, our wonderful God and Savior, deserves. What area of your life and of your soul do you need to realign in loving obedience to Him today? Is it your thought life? Is it a relationship? Is it the way you spend your time? Is it the way you treat others? Whatever it may be, ask God today to incline your heart to love Him more through greater obedience today.