Worshipful Will

Worshipful Will

To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.

Psalm 25:1

IN WORD When God tells us to love Him with all of our soul, how do we actually do that? How is it possible to submit such a vague concept of ourselves to such a concrete command? The soul involves so much of us, isn’t it a massive undertaking to surrender it to God?

That depends. Over the course of one’s life, it’s a massive undertaking. Today, it isn’t. Think about that: God never asks us to love Him completely and consummately forever. He wants that, of course, but He doesn’t approach us that way. He approaches us right now. He wants us to love Him with everything in us at the moment. He wants that for this moment, and then when the next moment comes, He’ll want that again. But our whole lives all at once? He doesn’t give our lives to us that way; we can’t offer them back to Him that way.

That makes loving God a whole lot easier, doesn’t it? Whatever decision is facing us today is the decision in which God wants us to demonstrate our love for Him. Whatever struggle we’re having, or whatever depression we’re feeling, He only asks us to turn it over to Him minute by minute. We struggle with our eternal commitment to our Creator, but the struggle of the moment, while difficult, is a lot easier. Our strategy for loving God is a matter of the here and now, not of the one day and forever.

IN DEED Why is that important to know? Because if we look at the big picture, we’ll get depressed quickly. We can see our failures in the context of our whole lives and assume that we’ve done a miserable job of loving God. Just like a married couple that always lives in the past, we’ll be doomed to repeat it—we’ll question our devotion because our devotion has a spotted track record. Or like a couple that hopes for the future but ignores the present road to get there, we’ll question our devotion because it always seems unattainable. God helps us not to play those mind games. He wants our love in the immediate decision, the current workload, and the present mood. Give Him your life and your love, one manageable minute at a time.

There is only one time that is important—now!

—LEO TOLSTOY