By Divina Bruss

I recently returned from a trip to my hometown to visit my sweet grandma. She is at the end of her life, and I wanted to see her one last time. We don’t know if it will be days or even weeks until she draws her last breath, but we know it’s coming.

Times like this have a way of refocusing us—reminding us that the clock is ticking for each of us, and how we spend our time matters. If I could share one message with my passing minutes, it would be this: Love God with everything in you. Nothing else matters.

Throughout the Bible we see the command, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” 

But what does it actually mean to love God like that?

The use of “heart, soul, and mind” means our comprehensive self. Our thoughts, emotions, will, intentions, desires, and actions.

Read that list again.

It means everything. That completeness is emphasized by the word “all”— all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.

Now, what does it mean to love God?

First, let’s notice that the command is to love God. It’s not to obey God or serve Him or even worship Him. Too often we get so caught up in doing, or not doing, certain things that we lose sight of what God really wants from us. He is a relational God. After all, Jesus died on the cross SO THAT we could have a relationship with God, the Father. He is not after our deeds, He’s after our love.

All the rest—loving others, serving and worshipping Him, living generously—is simply evidence of our love for Him.

When we love God:

• we get to know Him by reading the Bible
• we talk with Him through prayer
• we trust Him
• we follow Him
• we seek Him
• we depend on Him
• we long to please Him

When we love God, we invest in our relationship with Him—with our heart, soul and mind.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” – Proverbs‬ ‭3:5-6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This holiday season—complete with party invitations, packages to wrap, trees to decorate, and dozens of other fun activities vying for our attention—let’s remember why we celebrate Christmas. God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for our sins, SO THAT we can be in relationship with Him. Invest in that relationship. Prioritize time with Him. 

The clock is ticking for each of us, and how we spend our time matters.