Last Sunday, during the Youth Fellowship at BBC Proj 8, we were studying Joshua 22:5.  Joshua was old and he was giving an exhortation to all Israel before the tribes of Gad Reuben and Manasseh crossed the river Jordan on the way to their possessions over the eastern bank.  Joshua’s reminder was for them to 1) Love the Lord God; 2) Walk in all his ways; 3) To keep all his commandments; 4) To cleave unto Him; and 5) to serve God with all their heart and soul.

It’s noteworthy that of all five exhortations, three have something to do with the emotions, the mind and the will.  The words,” love,”  “cleave” and “heart” and “soul” are included in the same exhortation as the action words “walk,” “keep,” and “serve.”

The word love is controversial enough, and most difficult to define.  Most people “love” cake or “love” chocolates.  They mean that they prefer it above all food and that they seek to have this food whenever they can.  Martyrs “love” their causes, heroes “love” their countries.  This means that they are willing to give their time, their strength, even their lives to the object of their love. To teenagers, being “in love” means that they constantly crave the closeness, the nearness and the presence of the person they are “in love with.” On Facebook, my brother, Atty. Paul Mar Arias shared a quote from Maria Rainier Rilke that carried the thought that: love is the only activity that moves us to give ourselves away. Those who love another invest themselves in their beloved so that the lover’s happiness is intertwined with the happiness and well-being of the beloved.

If all these connotations and denotations of love are true to our experience, then the question that begs to be asked is, do we love God this way? Do we prefer Him above all, do we seek His presence, His closeness, His nearness, His presence above all things?  Are we willing to give Him our time, our attention, our strength, even our very lives? Are we so invested in God that our happiness hinges on pleasing Him?

We hang our heads in shame, I suppose, because we fail to love God this way.  We wax poetic about love for a beloved spouse, partner or special friend, but we are tepid and inert about God.  Some of us are more fervent, but the fervency is not constant.  Some of us are fervent most of the time but the fervency is in the feeling only but there is no evidence in deeds of the love we avow to hold in our hearts.

To love God above all is the essence of the first two commandments and, we fail to fulfill these commandments.  Perhaps, it is just as well because the commandments were given to show us how far and how constantly  we fall short of God’s standards.  The commandments show us how undoubtedly sinful and selfish we are.

One more thing about love, when we love someone, it is pleasing to us to walk with them, no matter where the path takes us.  The path of life may be dreary, perilous or even monotonous and filled with poverty, but we bravely walk on, hand in hand with the person we love.  We hold on to people we love and we are held by them.  Can we say the same thing about our love for God?  Do we stay on the path of life with Him no matter where it takes us?  Do we hold on to God and allow Him to hold us although the path is steep and treacherous?  Do we walk in all His ways?

It was an eye-opener for me last Sunday afternoon when I explained the phrase “to walk in all His ways.”  I said something like, it’s easy enough when God points the way He wants you to go and you see that that’s the same way you want to go or the same general direction you were headed anyway.  But what if the way God points to is not at all the way you prefer to go, instead, the path God chooses for you is diametrically opposed to the way you wanted to go?  Would we be willing to forego our own chosen path and walk in all of God’s ways?  Would we do it willingly, with pleasure, without hesitation and with praise and faith in our hearts?  This is what it means to “walk in all His ways.”

It means that when we are about to make a decision ( and we make a million decisions everyday), we acknowledge that there is a path we prefer, but we look up to God and humble defer to His chosen path?  Easier said than done.  But that is what it means to “count the cost”  this is what it means to “deny self” and this is what it means to “follow Christ.”

If I don’t follow Christ, will I still be saved? Lot stayed in Sodom and Gomorrah, he didn’t follow God’s plan of staying in Canaan as a pilgrim.  He opted for the settled life of luxury.  When the fire and brimstone rained down, angels came for him and brought him out of Sodom and Gomorrah.  In the New Testament book of 2 Peter 2:7, Lot was referred to as “just” and “righteous“– Old Testament words for “saved.”

Following Christ after you are saved is a choice.  Jesus Christ said “IF any man will come after me…”  the word “if” implies a choice.  We must all count the cost and choose. If we choose to follow Christ, it is proof and evidence that we are truly saved, because the unsaved will not choose to follow Christ.  Romans 8:14 says: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”  Allowing God to lead in your life, and following His lead cannot save you, rather it is proof positive that you are truly saved.  He who allows God to lead and follows God’s lead is doing the will of God, and “he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.”

We all need to sit down and count the cost today.  We need to make the choice to follow Christ, to walk in all His ways. If we hear His voice, let us not harden our hearts.  Let us choose to follow Christ and walk in all His ways.