Devotion - With all Your Strength

Luke 10:27

New International Version (NIV)

²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b]”

     Have you ever had one of those days with your kids where you feel like EVERYTHING you have struggled to teach them went out the window?  You know, when you feel exhausted because you have repeated yourself so many times that you wonder if the problem is that your children really don't understand the English language?  To me this is what loving with all your strength is supposed to feel like.  I mean, your not going to give up on your kids or stop trying to help them be their very best. 

    

     If you are a teacher of any kind, or have every tried homeschooling in any capacity you can probably understand this even better.  You talk about a topic, you repeat the topic, you recite the topic, the child recites it back, they repeat it after you, and then when you ask them what the topic is and they look at you like you have a large purple dot on the end of your nose.  So you do it ALL again....a couple of times... and still the same outcome.  It's exhausting!

The truth is, God does the same thing with us.  Jesus's story is told 4 times by 4 different people with 4 different perspectives (Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John).  Yet we forget "what Jesus would do" CONSTANTLY!

The Good News, God doesn't give up on us either!

He expected us to need a little extra help, all he asks is that we return his love. We can do this, buy loving God EVEN MORE than we love our kids.  But think about it, if you want to raise respectful, honest, God loving children, you need to be a respectful, honest, God lover yourself. 

So get exhausted doing what is right by God.

Use all your strength to know God.  Do what is right at ALL TIMES.  FIGHT YOUR SELF and let God WIN in you!