The world tells us that we should be “all in” regarding the things that we do in life. Whether at work or at play, we should give it everything we’ve got. We are told to work hard and play harder. I recently came across an ad by a sportswear manufacturer that says the more we love something, the harder we play. The mindset here is that when we truly love something, we give it our all. These principles should also apply to our spiritual life, our walk with the Lord. In fact, the Bible tells us that this is so.
When it comes to working, God’s Word tells us that we should work hard. This doesn’t apply only to work we do in service to God. It applies to whatever work we do, even work in the secular world. Whatever we do, we need to do it with all our hearts. Our approach to the work that we do should be that we are doing it for God and not just for people (Colossians 3:23). We need to put as much effort into what we do as we can. This also applies to our prayer life. We need to pray hard (1 Thessalonians 5:17). We need to devote ourselves to spending time in prayer (Colossians 4:2), talking to God and taking the time to listen and hear His voice. The world says we should work hard and play harder. As believers, we need to be “all in” for God. We need to work hard and pray harder.
We should also be “all in” when it comes to loving God. We are commanded to do so. The Bible tells us that we are to love God with all that we have. That means loving Him with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our minds, and with all our strength (Deuteronomy 6:5; Mark 12:30). When it comes to loving God, we should hold nothing back, just as He has held nothing back in loving us. God showed what it means to love with all you’ve got. He loved us so much that He gave His only Son to die for us, so that by believing in Him we may have eternal life (John 3:16). God’s love and mercy for us deserve nothing less than loving Him with all we’ve got. When we love God in this way, when we give Him everything, we are offering true and proper worship that is both holy and pleasing to Him (Romans 12:1). The world says that the more we love something, the harder we play. As believers, the more we love God, the harder we praise!
A Worshiper's Journal 