If God is real.

If God is real...

If God is real why would I not worship Him? If God is real, how could anything be more important? Jesus tells us that "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." (Mat 4:4). If God is real, how could that not be true? Why wouldn't I hang on His every word? Why wouldn't I want to study the Bible--God's Holy Word--to learn all of the things God believes are important for me to know? Jesus told us that the greatest commandment is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (Mat. 22:37). If God is real how could I not love Him so?

The kind of love God expects is all-consuming. It is a heart-aching, yearning love. That is the love God wants from me. He wants me to yearn for Him, so that I will always seek Him and nothing else will satisfy me. If God is real, shouldn't I want to love God in that way? Is he not deserving of all-consuming love? Should I not desire for my heart to ache for Him? If God is real, is there anything else in this world that could compare with His perfection and majesty? Is there anything else in this world that could bring more pleasure and joy?

Do I love God with an all-consuming love? Do I yearn for Him? Do I ache for Him? Or is it Florida State football that consumes me? Do I yearn for the next Facebook or Twitter update? Do I ache to know what's happening in the world of politics or entertainment?

"You shall have no other gods before me!" (Exod. 20:3) Why would I place the idols of football, Facebook or anything else above the living God? Is it because I do not actually think God is real? Dwight L. Moody wrote that "[t]he germ of all sin is unbelief." If after introspection I discover that I do not truly believe God is real, then I should fall down and beg God in His mercy to help me overcome my unbelief, before it is too late! (Mark 9:24) On the other hand, if I discover that I do truly believe that God is real, then the only acceptable thing to do is to fall down before Him, repent of my sins, beg His forgiveness and dedicate my life to Him. I should take the time to reevaluate what is really important, with the understanding that God must always be at the top of that list. Then I must strive to live that out day after day.

Today's prayer:

Holy God, please fill my heart, my mind and my soul with an all-consuming love for You; so that I will yearn for you, ache for you and worship you above all things.