The Greatest Commandment
[A teacher of religious law asked Jesus,] “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” Jesus replied,” . . . ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” Mark 12:28-31
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As Jesus entered Jerusalem, the religious leaders were watching and waiting to confront him with their manipulative questioning and to attempt to trap him by hypocritically challenging his authority. Nonetheless, one religious leader, noticing that Jesus was giving them good answers, asked him which was the most important commandment. Jesus did not answer with a complicated code of laws, rituals, and customs. Instead, he reduced their binding law to two simple ideas—loving God and loving others—and focused on the one thing central to the Christian life: the principle of love. Oh, how often we miss living in the grace of God when we confine our walk of faith to the observance of rituals and laws. God sent his Son to save us from anything that could hinder our living the liberated life in Christ. This is salvation—the power of his life within us enabling us to love the Father and to love others with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Spend a few moments basking in Christ’s love for you, expressing your love for him, and asking him to fill you to overflowing with his love for people.
Prayers:
FATHER, I am often too busy and distracted to remember the most important thing of all: your love. Help me to lay aside all else and order my day around my love for you. Teach me how to love you and how to love people as Christ loves them. As you fill me with your love, Father, lead me to those who need to know your love today.
Quotes:
Love is not the work of the Holy Spirit, it is the Holy Spirit—working in us. God is love, he doesn’t merely have it or give it; he gives himself—to all men, to all sorts and conditions.
Joseph Fletcher
The One Year Bible Readings for today are: Numbers 4:1–5:31; Mark 12:18-37; Psalm 48:1-14 and Proverbs 10:26.
