Monday Morning Message - Think and Love

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Matthew 22:37

What do you love? That's a question easy enough for most of us to answer. Our thoughts immediately turn to that which is the object of our attention and adoration. Jesus knew what He was talking about when He said, "Where your treasure is there your heart will also be." (Matthew 6:21). You see, our thoughts drive our loves.


When I began dating My Beloved in college no one had to remind me to think about her. In fact, I often had to be snapped back to reality from thinking about her. I was often imagining the next time I would get to see her or remembering the sweet moments we had recently shared. I was always thinking about her. I can gladly say things haven't changed much in that department. I still think of her all the time! The point is, of course, that our thought lives drive our love lives.

Dallas Willard, in his book Renovation of the Heart, cogently states, "To bring the mind to dwell intelligently upon God as He is presented in His word will have the effect of causing us to love God passionately, and this love will in turn bring us to think of God steadily." Our problem is that we have become lazy lovers of God. We make bold professions of love and follow them with pitiable pursuits of that love.

Let me challenge you to fix your thoughts upon God this week. Make it a point to pursue Him through His word. Determine to call to mind throughout your day the goodness and glory of God. Allow Him to become that all consuming thought in your life. In so doing you will take significant strides toward loving Him with all your mind.