As a Branch coordinator, I often remind our household fellowship coordinators to remember to take God with them wherever they go. It is possible to be so busy “serving God” that we forget the One we are serving. Our first most important relationship is the one we have with our heavenly Father, and we want to remember that we are to love Him first. Jesus Christ understood this. In Mark 12, Jesus responded to the question, “Which is the first commandment of all?”
Mark 12:29,30:
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength involves loving Him above all else. Our lives can be very full. At times our focus on our day-to-day responsibilities can get in the way and distract us from honoring our number one relationship—that fellowship we have with God. If this happens, we may need to reevaluate our daily routines and change to include God in whatever we are doing. When we love God above all else, we can see increased quality in our relationship with Him.
A way to love God above all else is to keep His testimonies.
Psalms 119:2:
Blessed are they that KEEP HIS TESTIMONIES, and that seek him with the whole heart.
How do we keep His testimonies? First, we build our knowledge and understanding of God’s will by making time to read and study God’s Word. It is His Word that enables us to know Him. It is His Word that teaches us how to love, worship, and fellowship with Him. As we learn His Word, we can develop and enhance our relationship with God. We enhance our relationship with Him when we learn Who God is from His Word. We learn what He has done for us and what He will do for us. We see how much He cares for us and how much He loves us, and we learn to trust Him.
Proverbs 3:5,6:
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Loving God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength involves trusting in Him to be there for us in life’s situations and to direct our paths. As we take God with us, we know that He will help us keep life balanced so that we are not burdened with all we need and want to accomplish in a day, week, month, or year. Then once we get to know the heart of our heavenly Father and trust Him, we will want to keep His testimonies—do His Word. We will want to keep His commandments, and “his commandments are not grievous,” as it says in I John 5:3. We think the Word and apply it in life’s situations. When we do God’s Word and trust in Him, we are loving Him and our relationship with Him will be sweet.
Another way to love God above all else is to seek Him in prayer and worship with our whole heart.
Psalms 119:2:
Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that SEEK HIM WITH THE WHOLE HEART.
Jesus Christ provided us an example of seeking God in prayer.
Mark 1:35:
And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
Luke 5:16:
And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
As in any relationship, it takes effort to maintain and build fellowship. The same is true with our heavenly Father. We put forth effort to keep our fellowship with Him alive and vital. Many things in life compete for our time, our energy, and our allegiance, but we want to take time to pray and to keep God in our thoughts throughout the day. There is nothing to hold us back from freely praising God in worship for all He has done for us. He wants us to seek Him in prayer and worship Him with our whole heart. This relationship between God and us is a lifelong journey, so it is worth the effort it takes to make sure we pray and worship Him.
Since our first most important relationship is the one we have with our heavenly Father, we want to enhance that relationship by loving Him above all else. We can manifest our love to Him by doing His Word—by learning His Word, learning to trust in Him, and keeping His testimonies. We also maintain and improve that all-important relationship by seeking Him in prayer and worship. Let’s take God with us wherever we go by loving Him above all else.