Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

I remember sending my pastor a question via email several years ago. I was looking at an organization that I was considering financially supporting and I shot him a quick email to ask if he felt like there was anything in their statement of faith that conflicted with our own. I got a quick response back, “Read it and see.” To be honest, a flare of anger went through me, how was I supposed to reconcile the two things when this was what he looked at and thought about all day? Wouldn’t it be easier for him to just take a quick look at it and let me know his opinion. Yes, it would have been, but what would I have gained from that exercise? My earthly shepherd gently pushed me toward good pasture, encouraging me to feed myself and grow.

This morning as I sat and thought about what I would study and read for the morning, the newness of the year was on my mind. I suppose it’s something we all do at the start of a new year. The past day or two has been a time to stop and assess what happened in the year that is ending, and consider what we would like to continue or do differently in the new year. I am working to get back on track and out of “holiday mode.” It’s time to stop eating junk, start exercising again, and get back into my daily routine. The thought that permeated my mind this morning was that I want to be more responsible about the little things this year. Naturally, given my habit of spending time in the Word every morning, that thought extended toward the Lord. What exactly are our responsibilities to God? We would think that Jesus made that pretty simple for us in Matthew 22

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Intellectually this makes perfect sense, all of the 10 commandments can indeed be wrapped up in these two ideas. But, how do we put these into action? Heart… Love is a verb, that’s easy to understand, but how do we love the Lord our God with all our heart? Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart also be.” What is your greatest treasure? While trying to reconcile this in my mind, I thought about young love between a couple. When it’s new, it’s all you can think about, it’s exciting and you seek to spend every second you can with the object of your affection. You want to know everything you can about that other person, their past, their thoughts, their dreams for the future. Soul… According to Strong’s one of the definitions of soul is “breath”. The other is the “essence” of ourselves. Do you love the Lord with every essence of yourself… with agape love? Agape is sacrificial love, a love that is pure and desires the best for the object of our love? When we love God with all our soul, we are willing to sacrifice our very breath if that is what is necessary. There have been martyrs throughout the ages, willing to sacrifice their very lives instead of denying their relationship with Christ. Mind… I remember asking my kids math facts, spelling, and vocabulary words when they were younger and they struggled to memorize things, but when I listened to them discuss video games they were playing, they could relate detailed facts about levels they had played months ago. It became clear to me that their memory was fine, just not their priorities. I proved it to them by carefully listening to their conversations and asking them to recall things later. Once they realized that it wasn’t lack of ability, but rather lack of effort, they began to make progress. It’s much the same way with us, and it’s related to what we treasure in our hearts. If we truly treasure the Lord our God with all our hearts, our mind will follow.

Loving our neighbor as ourselves sounds easy, but humans have a tendency to value ourselves far higher than anything else. Most Christians experience a true change in their affections for others upon salvation. Suddenly our eyes are open to others in a whole new way. I think if we maintain our relationship with Christ the way we should loving others is pretty natural. When we are studying, praying and worshipping the Lord often and honestly, I believe that He will lead us to show His love to others. So, if you’re not feeling that love toward others that you should, turn your mind to Christ, immerse yourself in the word and see if things don’t change.

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Colossians 2: 6-7

When we are saved, we are like tender young plants in our faith. Rooted in Christ for sure, but our roots are shallow and we need to maintain a connection with Christ, and feed ourselves the living Word so that we can grow. We should be spending time in prayer, spending time in the Word, taking every opportunity to sit under God-called preachers, and spending time with other Christians. If we immerse ourselves in our faith, allowing it to affect every area of our life, God will be faithful to provide what we need to grow and deepen our faith, we simply have to put in the work.

All those years ago when I sent my pastor that email, I was trying to “be a good Christian” the easiest way possible… the laziest way possible. I didn’t want to do anything I shouldn’t do, but I was not willing to do the work to study and grow myself. I wanted to be spoon-fed the Word, barely making the effort to swallow, much less chew. Stop and think about that for a minute. How many things of value in this life do we receive with zero effort on our part? None! And yet, many of us barely crack our Bible outside of church, much less hide its words in our hearts. Make a commitment now, at the beginning of 2021, to begin spending more time on your relationship with Christ. It is by far the most valuable possession we have, and yet so many people take it for granted.