DEUTERONOMY 13:3b – For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Today’s scripture is going to happen. Daily. For the rest of our lives. This “happening” is what God did to His people of old and continues to do in all His children–a testing of our affections. But the test isn’t for the Lord. It is for us. It is to show us ourselves and particularly who and what is sitting on the throne of our affections. This testing of our affections from the Lord will occur in two directions. First, in the form of a question causing us to do serious self-examination. The other is toward what is required to pass the test in God’s eyes.
First, the testing of our affections begins with the question Jesus asked of Peter–a most probing and exposing of questions – When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?”(John 21:15). Substitute your name for Simon Peter and read the question aloud to yourself – “(Your name), do you love Me more than these?” Now examine your life. Is there any human being who has a tighter grip on your affections than Jesus? Are there any worldly pleasures, pursuits, and passions that hold attachment to your heart and direct the use of your time more than the Lord Jesus? How you answer all these questions will immediately give you a “passing” or “failing” grade on the test of your affections.
The other direction the testing of our affections takes is tied directly to the words of today’s scripture. What we are reading is the Great Commandment stated by our Lord Jesus-Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (Matthew 22:36-38). The Bible makes it unquestionably clear that to love God we must obey God. It isn’t saying “I love God”, singing “I love You, Lord”, or anything else that validates our chief affection in life is Him. It is our obedience to His Word. And here comes the test. Obedience or loving God is always a choice for the Christian. In any and all temptation, the end goal is to move the heart away from holy attachment to God to the fulfilling of self-centered sinful passions. We may “peel back the layers” on temptation and sin to expose the core issue. When we choose sin, and yes, we choose sin, we are telling the Lord, “My affections and thus my love and commitment are attached more to me than You. I am choosing sin over holiness; sinful pleasure over Your pleasure, and removing You from the throne in my heart.” Or we may basically say, “I choose to fail the testing of my affections for You.”
When it comes to the Christian warfare we are called to, it is a battle for the heart which is a battle for the affections. It is also a testing, from the Lord, to show us where our affections are truly attached – to Him or ourselves and the world.
PRAYER: “Father, may I not fail a single test You send me when You test who or what is the center of my affections.”
QUOTE: “God tests us to help us; to mold us; to make us see the greatest source of satisfaction in life is loving Him.”
Because of Him,
Pastor Jim