DAY 9 - "I love you with all my heart!" What lover has not uttered those words at least once in his or her life? I once told a young woman those words, and meant them at the time. But later I broke our engagement. I did not live up to those seven important words. It has taken me a lifetime to live them down. But how do we love with all our mind? That is the question we face in today's text. Let's look at it together.

"Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment" (Matt. 22:37,38 NKJV). This calls for 100% effort on our part. We are to love God (and others) with all our mind. We understand "heart" and even "soul" more than we do "mind." What does it mean to love God and others with all our mind? W. E. Vine calls the mind "the seat of understanding." The mind is where "reflective consciousness" takes place. Right thinking will lead to right actions. Focus your thoughts on God and what He has done for you in Christ. Soon you will be not just thinking of God but you will find yourself thanking Him as well. The more God is in your thoughts the more you will love Him and serve others. You will express and demonstrate your 100% love for Him in many ways. John R. W. Stott said, "One of the highest and noblest functions of man's mind is to listen to God's Word, and so to read His mind and think His thoughts after Him." Angelus Silesius noted, "It is astonishing that I - dust, ash, and mud - may on familiar terms be with the highest God." The mind. Where dust meets Deity. Begin today to love and serve God and man "with all your mind."

Hymn: O for a closer walk with God
A calm and heavenly frame
A light to shine upon the road
That leads me to the Lamb! (William Cowper)