God's Law in Our Hearts

We express our love for God both in how we live out our spirituality, which is conveyed through our hearts and minds and is transformative, and in what we do for others, as the need arises, for the sake of those who are without hope, hurting, and broken. God's love is shown in its fullest sense through our spirits, minds, and active service.

I have found that too often we, who are believers and lovers of God through Christ, have divided up the way that we express the complete love of God by separating the spiritual and physical aspects of our life as followers of God's word and Christ's example.

As a young man in the ministry, I tried hard to regularly set aside time to pray, study, and meditate on God's word, connecting with God spiritually. I was not always successful. Then, I would attempt to practice what God was leading me to do actively in caring for the people who lived under great financial risk; without enough food or permanent housing; and who suffering from impaired mental health issues of various kinds. Also, those who needed comfort from the ills of life as they knew it.

At that time, I put those two ways of living my godly life in separate compartments. Each one having its own level of importance, but in my mind not equally important. One was always more important than the other. Back then, I thought that praying and studying the Bible was the ultimate form of sacredness. I felt nothing else could reach that depth of connection to God.

However, when I served God by helping other people, I thought that it was a very blessed thing to do, and because it helped to lift people out of troubling situations, I felt that was the second tier of serving God, after getting my spirit and mind in a place that God could lead and mold me.

It was only after I was infused by God through prayer, the study of God's word, and meditation spiritually and mentally that I felt I could help someone else get closer to God through active service.

I believe God wants us to return to the original understanding of how both the spiritual, mental, and physical ways that we connect and serve God are equally important, and that both are offered as morphing signs of God's love.

The Bible reading for this Sunday is from Hebrews 10:11-25. Take your time reading about what Christ offered as his spiritual connection to God for humanity. Then, find the truest form of God's spiritual link with us and how that deep bond liberates and empowers us to act out our love for God in physical, tangible ways that are not only uplifting in this physical world but are heartwarming and possess healing for the souls and minds of those we are called to help and serve.