Who Is My Life?

“That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” (De 30:20 AV)

We use that phrase a bit differently.  When we say that someone is our life we mean that person is the definition of our life; the reason we live; the one who makes life worth living; or the center of all our affections.  In Hebrew, the meaning is deeper than that.  It means that He is the substance of our lives and gives life to live.  He defines us.  Not we, Him.  The suggestion here is a lack of living if He is not our life.  For He is thy life is a phrase that should be the sum total of our very existence.  In this verse, we see three ways in which we can make Him our life.  That is for a coming sermon.  For this morning, I just want to consider if God is my life or have I surrounded myself with other things that have taken His rightful place.

There are countless examples of the idea above.  An athlete who is committed to being the best at his sport is said to make that sport his life.  An academic who spends all his waking hours in the pursuit of greater expertise in his field is said to make that area of study his life.  A soldier who sacrifices all that he might complete his mission is said to have made the army his life.  A young mother who never complains and always shows the deepest compassion possible towards her newborn is said to have made that baby her life.  Those preparing to marry are the epitome of this idea.  No one else exists.  As far as they are concerned, they are the only two people on the planet.

Life happens.  We get married.  We have children and grandchildren.  We have a calling given to us by God.  We have responsibilities in life.  There are so many competitors thrown in the arena of our hearts that it is easy to let God slip a few notches.  When we were single with little to worry about, God was the sole definition of life.  No one did anything wrong.  Just simple neglect.  A time of refocusing might be in order.  No one is to blame.  We simply lost our sense of who and what God is to us.  Is God our life?  Perhaps we need to make Him our life once again.