How deep can we love God? How can we express our deepest love to Him? Believers often say they love God. Still, a good number of them intentionally or unintentionally miss an important feature that expresses love to God. Nominal Christians think of it as excessive, as they cannot see how it helps them further. So, with lack of passion and contriteness it even appears boring and vain. Others simply do not apply the knowledge of it. One factor for the latter’s incompetence is forgetfulness, a common weakness in human beings. Humans’ tendency to let go the memory of the things or events that took place for their well-being results in their forgetfulness. However, the misnomers and the incompetence to love or express our deepest love to God can be overcome. It is by developing an attitude to praise Him. It is a conscious effort. It involves reciting to Him all the wonders, provisions and execution of plans He has done for us. It is pivotal if we want to please Him further. One of the things He searches in us is the depth of our loving attitude toward Him. And praising Him actually helps satisfy His search. One man that thoroughly practiced it was David. He said, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name” (Ps. 103:1).
Blessing or praising the Lord is one the best things we can offer Him as a spiritual sacrifice. It is indeed our spiritual service of worship to Him. Notice the provision for it. It is our soul. There are different ways to serve God, but they are all that much more worth to Him when we are blessing Him with our soul. In fact, the genuineness of all our service to Him is known and measured by it. Our soul, a part of our spirit, is an emotional being. As we truly practice intimacy with God, it calls on our spirit to bring from memory all the things God has done for us. Intimacy with God is where faith, obedience and righteousness that amount to godliness are built. Godliness does not allow us to be forgetful of God’s goodness. It makes its abode in our spirit so that we do not neglect or forget expressing our deepest love to Him. And it needs expending our energy and pure thoughts for Him. Thus, the phrase “all that is within me” comes into picture. To bless God can only be a conscious effort.
Blessing God is a personal trait. It is between each one of us and God alone. It is different to the worship we do as church. We ought to develop it for quite a few reasons.
- To rejoice in God with all our heart, mind and soul
- To be continually glad in all the things we received from Him
- To be secure that none of those things will perish or cause sorrow
- To have a reason to talk and express our deepest emotions to Him
- To continually be with peace and comfort as well as with the knowledge that He never leaves us
- To be victorious each day of our life
- To avoid fellowshipping with the world and evil
- To remind Him of His wondrous works so that He hastens to fulfill our faith directed requests
It is an act we ought to practice throughout the week, month and year. For all the goodness of God toward us we should be able to do it. We can always start with His gift of salvation to us and then go on into the things He has done. There are two ways to bless Him and they require a sacrifice. The ways are prayer and gentle singing; the sacrifice is time. The only factor that makes us sacrifice time is godliness or our deep desire to be intimate with God. Godliness directly affects time and the way we bless Him. Then, blessing Him no longer appears boring or excessive and is done in full knowledge of its importance. And God has also pledged us help that we should aptly bless Him. Without having obtained His help none can bless Him or see the need for it and the reason for nominal Christians. John the Baptist said, “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matt. 3:11).
It is the Spirit and fire (zeal of God) that propels our soul to bless God. They are the basis for acquiring godliness. Godliness harbors the deep desire to love God and executes it by the Spirit’s leading and zeal. Hence, born again believers always differ from the self-proclaimed ones. I have known my mother to have consciously practiced praising God by prayer and gentle singing. She often told us she blessed and thanked Him for His unfathomable goodness to her. Often I heard her gently sing praising His goodness. We even came to learn many godly songs through her effort. It was not until into my adulthood that I clearly understood its significance. God desires it. And His Spirit and zeal in us invokes us to it. Our godliness exercises it. It does so much good and does so to me, and I am absolutely positive it will also do you the same. The secret to asking God all things in line with His will, including our needs, and not being stressed or anxious to obtain them lies in blessing God. Unless God’s Spirit and zeal are in us, it does not happen. It is for this reason also Jesus baptizes believers with them so that when God searches them, He is not disappointed. They must stand separate from the rest. It was clearly the case with my mother and can be with you and me. The things she practiced to bless God none around her were able to do. And Jesus’ words are true. “Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children” (Luke 7:35) When we are ready to bless God, we are bound to prove His wisdom blameless, i.e. we prove everything we benefitted from Him as His righteousness. And these are the qualities in us that stand as proof.
- Fear of God. The Spirit and zeal compels us for it. “Then Peter said to her, ‘Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well’” (Acts 5:9).
- Self-control. We entrust to God every situation and struggle in our life. “Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable” (1 Cor. 9:25). We relate to victory.
- Continual offering of thanks. We continue to bless Him for sustaining all the things we entrusted to Him. And Paul said, “I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers” (Phile. 1:4).
- Finally, we do not harbor forgetfulness. Forgetfulness is forsaking God. “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love” (Rev. 2:4).