Whether you start with a small amount of something or a larger amount of something, asking for ALL of something is probably going to be a lot to ask for. Especially from the person who has to give it all.
People carry different amounts of cash with them at different times. I typically have some in my pocket, because my wife and I prefer to pay with cash instead of using a card. It is not what I would call “a lot of money” but enough to meet anticipated needs. But whether there is more or less in my hands at any given time, I would not want someone to ask for all of it. ALL of it always seems like a lot.
In 1989 the British rock band Queen released an album called “Miracle” that featured a song entitled “I want it all.” The thrust of the song is repeated in the chorus over and over again … “I want it all, and I want it now.”
ALL always seems like a lot.
Then sometimes you give all you have to give, and suddenly it doesn’t seem like enough. You give your heart to someone and ask them to marry you. And the longer you and your spouse are together the more you want to give them. You’ve given it all, and yet you wish there was more to give. Your deep love compels the desire to give, and give more; to give it all, over and over again. And to keep on giving day after day.
In a delightful way it becomes like a thirst that cannot be quenched. Living to be giving. Delighting in giving everything you have to give because your love compels you to give more … with joy. It is in the giving that you find your deepest satisfaction, your best fulfillment. And that drives your desire to give BETTER, to love BETTER. To learn how to be the best lover you can be by expressing your love better today than you did yesterday, and then to get better at it tomorrow.
ALL is something that becomes more and more. ALL is a lot, because ALL is “everything you have to give.”
And as that concept reverberates in our ears, we bring today’s verse into view.
LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, ALL YOUR SOUL, AND ALL YOUR MIND.
God’s word tells us to give ALL we have to Him.
He tells us to love Him with ALL of our heart. To hold nothing back from Him within our hearts. To bring everything we love and lay it at His feet. Those things that are good He will give back with increase; a provision for us to learn to love Him more and better. Those things which we love but ought not He will remove from our hearts as we allow Him to work in us. He is purifying and perfecting our heart as we love Him with ALL OUR HEART. Like a goldsmith who heats the gold to a liquid so that any impurities can rise to the top and be seen, God lovingly skims them away. What is left behind is more pure and more valuable than what we had in the beginning.
He tells us to love Him with ALL of our soul. He wants the very aspect of the life within us, ALL of what drives us and ALL of what consumes us. He wants it, and He wants it all. Then He gives us the desires of our heart, returning some and replacing others. He gives them, and then they become a part of who we are. HIS desires leading our lives, driving our determination, drawing us closer to becoming who He has created us to be. When the bible speaks about God giving us the desires of our heart it is a promise of purification and perfection, not an invitation for you to give God the list of the top ten things you want from Him today. That would be a selfish and immature approach by anyone’s standard. God is our Heavenly Father, not our butler. He wants to give us all we need to be all we are called to be — and so He asks us to give all of our soul to Him. He wants it all.
He tells us to love Him with all of our mind. To give the decisions we make and the process by which we make them to Him. ALL of them. To trust Him as He leads us in the daily decisions big and small. He invites us to give him everything thought, every fear, every decision, every concept that crosses our minds. The mind is the great battleground, and the enemy attacks with vile thoughts and temptations. These are not “your thoughts” but are actually external attacks. The best way to deal with them is to give them to God. He knows how to purge them and flush them away. He wants ALL of our mind – good thoughts and bad.
God wants it ALL. He asks us to give it NOT BECAUSE HE NEEDS IT, but because we do. Like a husband who wants to give more and more of himself to his bride, He knows that giving Him everything simply increases our capacity. He knows that it will bless us as we give Him all of our heart, all of our soul and all of our mind. It is for US that He asks, because He knows how it will touch us and bless us.
LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, ALL YOUR SOUL, AND ALL YOUR MIND.
Go ahead, do it!!! He wants you to give ALL you have. Give Him the good, the bad and the ugly. He will cause the good to become great, the bad to be removed, and the ugly to become beautiful in His hands.
He says it like Queen’s man with a one track mind in their song —
You’ve got so much to do in one lifetime, this is not a time for compromise.
He wants it all, and He wants it now.
LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, ALL YOUR SOUL, AND ALL YOUR MIND.
