With all . . .

"He loves Thee too little who loves anything with Thee which he loves not for Thy sake."
--St. Augustine

This prayer by Augustine makes practical the first and greatest command, the essential mission of our lives: "Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all you strength." All necessitates an exhaustive fullness, a complete and focused singularity to our love for the LORD. All leaves no room for any other outside passions. No rivals. Does this sound extreme? Over-applicative? Too "radical?" But as a friend reminded me, can anything be too "radical" in love for the One who gives us physical life-- a beating heart and aspirating lungs-- and then, at the cost of the life of His only Son, gives us a new spiritual life-- the only thing that makes our physical lives worth living? No, there can be nothing radical at all about anything I might seek to do and to give my LORD out of love for Him. This is illustrated over and over again in the New Testament. Indeed, Jesus tells us that our love for our own families should be like hate compared with our love for Christ; He tells us that our love for HIM should utterly destroy our love for our possessions to the point that we give everything away to the poor in our passion for following Christ; and as if that doesn't quite cover it all, Christ declares that anyone who seeks and holds onto life to any extent above death outside of a love that follows Christ will forfeit his soul and the true life (that which comes by dying to this dead life).

But, I mean, surely the basic survival and satisfaction instincts are, at least in part, outisde of the demands of this spiritual life and exclusive love for God? no. ALL means ALL. Augustine had it right: "anything . . . which he loves not for Thy sake." This applies poignantly and constantly to my relations to food, to friends, to any clothing, books, car, job, hopes, goals and plans. It applies to my thought and to my writing. To my guitar and my time, my sleep. To my cell phone, my grades, my degree from the University. Applies to my computer, my music, and my movies. It applies to and must dominate every aspect of my life no matter how small, narrow, and seemingly insignificant. All means all.

My Lord, You shall have no rivals in my heart life. "Grant what Thou commandest, and command what Thou wilt." I am Yours alone.