LOVE GOD
Deuteronomy 6
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
This was the verse that Jesus quoted when replying to the lawyer’s question, adding “with all your mind” in Mark 12. He then adds that the second greatest command is “Love your neighbor as yourself”. Matthew 22 tells us that Jesus taught that the rest of the commands hang on these two.
Fear can be a good teacher, helping us to do things that we should even though we do not like or want to. The bible does not tell us to lose our fear but rather to go beyond it to love the object of our fear. When we do so, our grasp of God’s commands will deepen and broaden as we explore their implications and how they affect our heart, soul and body.
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom but the love of God is its core.
Moses taught the Israelites to make God’s commands a part of their everyday life, to embed God’s word into their lifestyle, their conversation and their identity. They are to be obeyed and practised and they are to become the hallmarks of our righteousness.
When we take this seriously and take steps to do so, perhaps a few commands as a start, for example, sabbath and honouring our parents, in time we will grow to love God as his commands shape our heart, soul, mind and body.
This is to love God. It is not an emotional response to him welling up inside us nor is it about offering him words of praise and declarations of love. It is to be shaped by him to a point when God, his will and his character is our life, our joy, our righteousness, our love.
“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (Mark 12:32-34)