Loving The God of Truth

Welcome to all those in the ODM who desire to know and to love the God of Truth through the faithful study of His Word. Please feel free to share your comments, insights, questions, concerns, words of encouragement, thanksgiving, praise, and prayer requests with all of us.

May God most richly bless the reading of His precious Word to our hearts this year.

"The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.
The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;
They are sweeter than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned;

In keeping them there is great reward."

(Psalm 19:7-11)

Monday, May 31, 2010

The Greatest Commandment

The Greatest Commandment
 34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:

 36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
As I read this passage I realized that I know the greatest commandment by heart, that I have quoted it throughout my life and that I acknowledge that it is truth but I never really thought about how difficult a command this is and what it means that all the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.

All of the religious things that we seem to get hung up on and nitpick at really don't matter unless we follow this greatest commandment. Any of those actions should be out of love for God and each other.

If we truly did love our God with all of our heart, soul and mind we would strive to live a life that was holy and pleasing to God which includes obeying all the laws and commands including loving your neighbor as yourself. This one is even harder. I mean, how much do we love ourselves? If we are honest the answer is ALOT. We think about ourselves constantly including how we are feeling, what we want, what we need, whether we've been wronged or hurt. We are also extremely gracious with ourselves in every sense.  If we loved everyone else as much as we loved ourselves it would be difficult to break most of the commandments and the things that the pharisees always seem to get hung up on and nitpick at to point the finger at one another in judgment.
It seems that Jesus is giving us the answer on how we can obey his commands and live as he did.
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1 comment:

darlayoo said...

thanks for a wonderful reflection, christine. i think you are so right when you say that if we truly followed these two commandments that we would necessarily keep all the others. we need to be reminded each and every day of this primary duty to God and to our fellow neighbor.

May 31, 2010 at 11:34 PM

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