He That Loveth

“He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭10:37‬ ‭KJV‬‬

There is nothing greater than the love a mother/father  has for their children - except the love The LORD has for His children. His is the example we, as parents, go by, in our sacrifice for our families. However, there is a fine line in "love" and "idolatry."  God is very clear in scripture that we are to love nothing more than Him, including our kids!  We say we love The LORD and then in our next post say we love our sons and daughters with our whole heart! 

This cannot be. 

A whole is a whole and we, as followers of Jesus Christ, must chose who gets the "whole"; Him or our kids!

“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.” Matthew‬ ‭22:37‬ ‭KJV‬‬

ALL!

The following scripture makes it clear that God does not take lightly the things we say.

“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”  Matthew‬ ‭12:36‬ ‭KJV‬‬

So we can't even say, "Well I didn't mean it that way!" 

“O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”

‭Matthew‬ ‭12:34‬ ‭KJV‬‬

What is in our heart is of what we speak! 

We have many idols that we worship, but we do not recognize them as such, for most are flesh and blood, though a few are wood and stone! 

Joyce Green said, "Look at the center of your storm to find your idol!" (my paraphrase)

Many of our storms repeat frequently; varying in intensity, but always involving what we put above God; our children; our spouses, our homes, our careers; ourself; the list goes on!  And like other religions, we can have many gods.

God will remove all other gods, because He wants your whole heart!

He sent His Son to die for you. That's how much He loves you! He desires the same love from you!

I heard a preacher tell his congregation one Easter, something I will never forget! He said, "I love you all and would gladly die for you! But there is no one here I love enough to give my son's life.

As pitiful as we are; you and I (our eternal lives) are the reward for Jesus Christ's suffering on the cross for our sins! 

Once we fully grasp the significance of His sacrifice; how undeserving we are; once we own the fact we deserve eternal death; how wretched and bankrupt we truly are and how Holy He IS; then and only then can we love Him with our whole heart! 

He then becomes the principal purpose for our living, above all else, including our kids, instead of something "we do" on Sunday!

Obedience to His Word shows the love we have for Him. It's not just to stay out of hell, it's because we love Him so much we don't want to disappoint Him! It's called dying to self. Putting Him above everything; including our children!

When one loves The LORD the way we are commanded to, the proper hierarchy is in place in the home, i.e. God first, Husband, Wife, Children. I'm sorry to say that in most homes the children are the head, or the wife, even in the homes of faithful church goers. 

We must get this right! 

Please examine your heart and truthfully look at who is sitting on your throne; you? your children? your significant other?

Do not think for a moment, because you said some words at an altar years ago, and have lived like the world, that you are "okay", with your "ticket punched", "Heaven bound!"

Jesus said:  “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”‭Matthew‬ ‭7:22-23‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Repent while there is still time. 

"May the lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!" 

Paris Reidhead: "10 Shekels & A Shirt!"

Even so - MARANATHA! 

1/4/17