DO YOU LOVE THE LORD? In Matthew 22:34-40 it is recorded, “But when the Pharisees had heard that he put the Sauducees to silence, they were gathered together.  Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master which is the great commandment in the law?  Jesus saith unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord they God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”   Do you love the Lord?  I’m sure you do!   This is one of the more difficult topics to really discuss because so many people have many fuzzy thoughts on what it means to love.  There are many, who say they love the Lord, but for the wrong reasons or motives.  “Honk” if you love Jesus can been seen on many cars.   Many say they love the Lord and are deeply involved in religious activities but for the wrong motive.  They may desire human praise, many engage in religious activities for profit, or they feel its their duty or because of fear, serious illness or accidents or just to get sympathy.  Notice in the above text, Jesus used the word “all” several times, all our heart, soul and mind. Let’s ask some questions: *How often do you think about the Lord? *How many moments today have you thought about Him? *How often do your thoughts go to God?   *How often do you read His Word? *How often do you attend Bible Study or Wednesday night Bible Study? *How often do you pray?  For Others?  For the Elders?  For the Church?  Loved one? *How long has it been since you prayed for your enemies?  Your mate?  Children? If we truly have the love for the Lord, as Jesus was talking about in our text, the answers to these questions would come fairly easy.  If we love the Lord, we will think of Him often .  In Col. 3:2 Paul reminds us to set our “our minds and affections on things above”.  If we love the Lord as we should we will meditate on His Word.  We will want to worship Him and praise His name in song.  When I hear people talking about, “I don’t enjoy worship, or studying the Bible, it tells me a lot about that individual.  The Lord’s Day is a day we can come together and fellowship with those of like mind, worship God, study His word and remember His son’s death on the cross for our sins.  We should all look forward to the Lord’s day with great antisapation, and joy.   How do you feel about your sins?  I didn’t asked you if you sinned.  I already know that (Romans 3:23)  How are you affected when you’ve sinned?  People differ towards sin in their attitude, when they know they have sinned.   Are you grieved?  Are you hurt?  Do you have difficulty sleeping at night?  I hope so?  If you love the Lord as you should, you won’t be very comfortable.  Sin breaks God’s heart.  David said in Psa. 51:3 “For I acknowledge my trangression and my sin is ever before me.”  How are you affected when you know you’ve disappointed God?   How do you react?  You want to get rid of that sin and confess it and be restored, that’s how it should affect you.   Let’s ask another question, if we really love the Lord how grateful are we for what He has done for us?  Love produces gratitude.  I don’t know anything much worse than ingratitude.  Do you know people that you sacrificed and sacrificed for and they never have showed an ounce of gratitude.  Jesus spoke of this in Luke 17:12-19 when he talked about the 10 lepers. One, only one came back and thanked the Lord.  I want to know when was the last time, if you are a Christian, that you uttered a prayer to God for sending His only Son, who died on that old rugged cross, shed His blood, that we might have the forgiveness of our sins.   How many times have we regularly thanked him with hearts filled with thanksgiving. (Psa. 100; 103:1-2).  O, how good he’s been to all of us.  I don’t care who you are today, what you’ve suffered, what the reverses have been in your life, what pain and heartache you’ve suffered, God has abundantly blessed us all over and beyond what we have asked.  If we truly, love Him we will be thankful for all the blessings he has given. Last of  all, let me ask, how much do you love the Lord’s church?  If you truly love the Lord, you love His church.   He gave Himself for it ((Eph. 5:25).   We cannot say we love the Lord and not love His church.  We are the church, if we are God’s children, and we must love each other.  It is hard for a congregation, to meet together year in and year out and get close to each other, know each other, keep loving each other, when we know each other’s petty faults, but we have to keep on doing it.  God loves each of us in spite of our faults, so we much love one another.  Let’s go back to the text and verse 38 “. . . Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself”.    “Let brotherly love continue” (Heb. 13:1)  “. . .see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently” (1 Pet. 1:22)   “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (Jno. 13:35).  There is no way we can avoid it.  The church is our preparation for heaven.  We must work daily on increasing our love for each other.  Loving the Lord, means that we love our brethern.  I love the old hymn that says, “Blest be the tie that binds, our hearts in Christian love; the fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.” (John Fawcett).  We are bound together by a mutual love, and we need to increase our brotherly love.   How much do you love the Lord?  Let it been seen in your life daily as you live for him.   Bill Young