Know. Love. Serve.

My last two blog posts have invited you to keep growing in your knowing of God and explained how this process overlaps with the concept of spiritual maturity in the life of the believer. Furthermore, I provided some practical steps for this process. Recently, I was given the opportunity to sit in this reality a little longer by speaking on Deuteronomy 6:1-9. (Start at second 46 in the video below to watch this message).

By Anna Schatz, January 2021 | Recorded for Hershey Free Church

In this passage, the children of Israel have taken their seats on the banks of the Jordan River and are listening to Moses share a final exhortation before making their way into the Promised Land. Of course, these nine verses are just a snippet of Moses’ overarching exhortation in which he reminds the Israelites of who God is, what God has done for them, and the way they have responded to Him. Furthermore, Moses reminds them of the covenant God had made with the nation of Israel to bless their obedience and punish their disobedience. (Reference Exodus 19 and 24 for further study).

I found it incredibly interesting how Moses underscores who God is before directing Israel in how to respond to Him. He says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the Lord is One” (v. 4). The NLT words it this way: “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.” Then, he directs them to “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (v. 5). Then, Moses ultimately directs them to teach their children and so allow their knowledge and love of God to overflow and permeate every facet of their lives (vv. 6-9).

When we step back and examine the greater context, we can see the passage pulling together three key ideas: Knowing God, Loving God, and Serving God.

Studying and teaching through this passage provided me with a window into the way each of these responsibilities can and must work together. You see, to know God is to love God, and to love God is to serve God.

Since the three work together, it’s vital that we pursue knowing, loving, and serving God simultaneously. In fact, whenever we make the mistake of separating the three and chasing just knowing, just loving, or just serving, we run the risk of some serious pitfalls.

Pitfalls

Just “knowing” leads us to accumulating intellect without allowing it to permeate our lives. It breeds arrogance and self-righteousness.

Just “loving” can lead us to chasing after a different god altogether. It breeds misinformation, misguided passions, and desensitizes us from recognizing the true God. Furthermore, it blinds us to truth and often negatively influences the people in our circles.

Just “serving” leads us to clinging to performance. It breeds self-sufficiency and self-service.

We simply cannot love God if we don’t know God, and we certainly won’t serve God if we don’t love God.

Good News

The good news is that God can intervene when we get off-track in these areas. Perhaps He will use His Word, perhaps He will use Godly friends, or perhaps He will even use pastors (with integrity) to get our attention and pull us back on track.

And more good news….If God graciously intervenes and helps us see that we’re off track, all we have to do is turn back around so that we can keep trekking forward.

Oh, friends. It’s just my heart that we hold one another accountable and enjoy the opportunity of knowing, loving, and serving God together.