Months ago I prayed, as I so often had, “Lord, please help me do a better job today of loving my family,” then it hit me, “a job?” Is that how I think of loving my family, as a chore? How dreary, for them and for me. My new prayer became, “Lord, please give me a heart of love for my family. Help me to love them in ways that are meaningful to them…” Wow, my perspective is totally changed. And, I have to say, God is honoring and answering that new prayer.

This morning, reading Psalm 86, I stopped at verses 11 and 12.

Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.
I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name forever.

My desire is to love God with all my heart, an undivided heart, but this passage made me sit and reflect for a while.

I remember the refrain, “I love God the most, then my family, then…” but the focus was on having the right priorities; I can’t remember ever hearing that expressed with any passion about actually loving God.

How often do we recite the greatest commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,” (Mark 12:30), but just because we know it is the right answer?

I don’t want to live a “theologically correct” life. I want to live in this great love that God has for me, for you, for the whole world, with passion, longing, praise, and pursuit.