What does God require from you? Isn’t this the most important question you can ask after who you say Jesus is (Matthew 16:15-17)? What the Lord requires of you is simple and God clearly articulates in Scripture what His requirements are. Deuteronomy 10:12 says, “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you except to fear the Lord your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, and to worship the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul?”
What He required of Israel is what He continues to require from His people today. We know if we love Him, we will keep His commands (John 14:15), so we must always be reminding ourselves of what those commands are. If the commands of God are not always at the forefront of our minds, we will quickly drift into living for the things we desire instead of what God requires.
First, we must fear the Lord by walking in all His ways. Being outside the will of God is the most frightening place you can be. Without God’s protection, we are open and vulnerable to every attack of Satan. To be without the favor of God is to be left to our own devices. We all know from personal experience how much power we have. We have no power, no matter who we are or how much we enjoy deceiving ourselves (John 15:4-5). Without Jesus, we are helpless, lost without His grace and mercy. To be outside of God’s will is to proclaim we know better than the Lord how we should live. Pride like this has led to the death and downfall of countless men and women throughout history.
Next, we must love Him. This one sounds easy until we remember to love anything other than Him is to prove we don’t love Him (1 John 2:15). To love God means to only love God. Jesus says our love for our families must look like hate compared to the love we have for Him (Luke 14:26). There is God and nothing else. If we love Him, nothing else in life matters. There is no love without surrender. Have you surrendered to Him or are you merely paying lip service to your faith?
Finally, we must worship Him with all of our heart and soul. Jesus further clarified the point by adding strength and mind to make it even more clear that our worship of God must be all-consuming (Mark 12:28-29). Every thought, word, and deed should be in worship to our King. No unwholesome talk should ever be on our lips or in our minds (Ephesians 4:29). We must do everything as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23-24). The reason you and I breathe is to worship God. It is the purpose of our lives.
What does God require? He requires complete devotion and surrender to Him. It’s a tall order, but when you consider what Jesus did for us, it seems trivial by comparison. Deny yourself and follow Him (Matthew 16:24-25). Isn’t His sacrifice worth your life? If it’s not, then you don’t know what it means to love Christ. If you love Him, fear departing from His ways, love Him with every ounce of your being, and live your life as a continuous act of worship to Him. What does God require? All this, and nothing less.