Israel came up to me this morning, climbed into bed, and snuggled with me. He is 3.5 years old. He hasn’t done that too much lately and usually wakes up and goes straight to playing. It was nice to have him just hug me, smile at me, and show me affection.
Then I had this thought: this is how God often feels about us, His children. He loves us unconditionally. When we wake up, we have a tendency to go about our business and forget how the warm embrace of spending loving time with our Father can set a different tone for the day. It’s not even so much about how spending time with God first thing can shift our day (though it can), but rather about the simple fact that God delights in us spending time with Him first thing in the morning—embracing Him, His presence, His Word, acknowledging Him in everything we do, and thanking Him.
It’s not the ritual of reading our Bible first thing in the morning, although I enjoy that. It’s waking up with a heart of thankfulness to our Father. A simple, “Good morning, Lord. I’m so glad that You love me.” The Bible talks so much about walking with His Spirit, walking in step with Him, abiding in Him. It’s a heart posture, not a schedule to be kept.🕑
Just like I don’t need Israel to come to my bed to give me a list of requests to be fulfilled. It’s those moments of spontaneously saying, “I love You,” “Thank You, Lord,” “Praise the Lord.” It’s the fluency of walking in thankfulness and acknowledgment of His presence within us and with us. It’s never been the Lord’s desire for us to just check boxes of “Well, I read my chapters of the Bible for the day,” and then go about our day not even thinking about Him.
It has always been the Lord desiring us—desiring our affection and attention. Just as I would hate for Israel to hug me only because it was habit and required of him—no, that’s not love. God wants our hearts, not only our obedience. Yes, He wants obedience too, but obeying with a heart that is hardened or far from loving Him is just acting. It’s not real.
That’s why Jesus says:“On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’”Matthew 7:22–23 (NLT)
• What laws is God referring to? All of them? Haven’t we all broken all of them by breaking just one?
I believe the Lord is speaking about the two greatest commandments:
“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” [37] Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ [38] This is the first and greatest commandment. [39] A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ [40] The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:36-40 NLT
💓 It’s love. It’s the heart posture. It’s always been about the heart posture. Don’t throw out your routine, but examine your heart posture within it. Has it become simply ritualistic? Or is there love and enjoyment with your time in His presence?
🪥As I help Israel brush his teeth and cook him eggs this morning, I can’t help but express love and thanksgiving to the Lord for my wonderful son and the opportunity to teach him. That is just as valuable to the Lord as me studying His Word for two hours. Two minutes of thanksgiving. 🙌
It’s the walk throughout our entire day.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NLT
[1] If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. [3] If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NLT [4] Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud [5] or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. [6] It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. [7] Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Mary Smith Creative 