Out of all the many taunts thrown at me by the imagined foes in my nightmare, one has always echoed through my mind as vividly in the day as it did the night I dreamed it: “You, girl, are a daughter of Miriam.”
Miriam. The woman who did not trust her God appointed leader and was in payment cursed with a skin disease. It has always amazed me that my childhood mind not only knew the story, but comprehended it to a degree to apply it to myself. At any rate, the title haunted me when I was younger. Was I really the kind of Christian girl who gave lip service but in reality doubted God, my leader, and His capability to take me through whatever storms life brought me? Starting with that day, I vowed to make sure that I never followed in Miriam’s footsteps; I have never wanted to miss out on whatever adventures God has planned for my life.
“Listen, Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” HCSB
Everybody who grew up in Church has heard these Scriptures at least once a year, if not once every six months. It makes sense. After all, Deuteronomy 6:5 is one of those passages simple enough you can take as a life motto, but profound enough that it is actually a challenge to apply to your life every single day. Love the Lord with all your heart…with all your soul…with all your strength. Do you earnestly know what it feels like to attempt such a feat? The verse implies you keep your thoughts dwelling on God, you do not commit adultery, and you love Him enough to wear yourself out trying to get closer to Him, to follow His will just a little more perfectly. It is not just a cute saying; it’s a struggle that can be exhausting and will most likely leave you feeling bruised and battered, but it is worthwhile in the end.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9 stress the gravity of just what this verse is talking about.
“These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” HCSB
As Christians, our thoughts and focus should be primarily on God. His words, the Bible, should be a part of our everyday life. It’s not enough to just read the Bible and pray as part of our lives. We need to make it our life. In other words, every aspect of our life should reflect the values we see in the Bible. Every part of our lives should line up with God’s will for our lives. I feel like a broken record, but I cannot stress to you enough how important it is that we constantly seek God’s will. This goes for major decisions like jobs and academics, as well as intimate relationships, friendships, activities, how we talk, how we act, what we do. These things are not separate from your faith in God; instead, they are part of how you show your faith in God. This is why it’s important to make sure our speech is gracious and seasoned with salt*, or that we are examples in faith, love, purity, speech, and conduct.** To step outside of God’s will is not simply a mistake. It is sin. The prayer involved in seeking what He will for your life will also strengthen your relationship with Him. It’s not easy, but it serves to help you love Him with all your heart, soul, and strength.
The pastor of my adopted church home away from home made a wise point last Sunday in our life group meeting. He taught that a lot of times we start depending on things other than God in our lives. Sometimes these things can even be good, such as people in the Church, or BCM. Nonetheless, as we start to draw strength from them, our focus on God diminishes. We become worshipers of symbols of God’s strength and mercy, when we should be worshiping God Himself. It is easy to let things get away from you to the point that you’re depending on people or things in your life to bring about certain events when really you should still be depending on God. A practical example of this would be how sometimes people feel like they have to bring about their own relationships with potential significant others, or even friendships, instead of trusting God to arrange all that for them. The difference is that the first requires a lot of thought and worry on my part to come about. However, the latter allows me to blissfully follow God’s will for my life, knowing that whoever I need in my life will be there when God knows I need them.
I never wanted to one day hear God call me a “daughter of Miriam,” so I’ve been seeking to apply Deuteronomy 6:5 as completely as I can to my life. In return for this devotion, time and again He has rewarded my faith and trust. Not only have I grown to love and trust Him even more from this, but I have also enjoyed some of the most honest and caring friendships possible on the face of this planet. Perhaps my ideologies of loving God with all my life will come across as a bit extreme, but, for me, I will continue to strive to love God with all my life.
*Colossians 4:6
**1 Timothy 4:12
Note to Readers: Forgive me if my ideas come across a bit rough or confusing in this blog. I am still adapting to college life and seem to be struggling to find time to write out my ideas in as simple and coherent manner as I would like.
Lauren Claire
Charles Stoops said,
October 31, 2011 at 4:27 pm
Well said and thoughtfully stated! I like it!