Mark 12:28-34
“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” “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.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.”
Mark 12:28-34 NIV
There has always been a lot of interest in Jesus, but while He is frequently intellectually admired, He is not always volitionally embraced. Information about Jesus is not always attended by transformation by Jesus.
Some people are near the kingdom of God but are not actually in the kingdom. They are so close and yet, at the same time, so far away.
We need to realize that Jesus is always happy to receive us with our honest questions. He longs for us to seek Him. However, as we honestly seek to understand Jesus and His will, we must be certain that we are living in obedience to that will.
As we seek to obey our Lord, our hearts are opened to understand his instruction so that his will becomes clearer. So let's begin our honest questioning of the Savior by first submitting our lives to His Lordship.
Most of us have come to understand love as primarily a feeling or affection. It can certainly have those qualities. But what if Jesus isn’t talking about our feelings for or affection towards another person or God?
What if Jesus is talking about our commitment to them? What if Jesus is really saying, You shall commit to the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength, and you shall commit to your neighbor as yourself.
I wonder what it would look like in each of our lives today to have the same level of commitment to the lives and well being of others as we have to our own. If you want to know the depth and character of your commitment to God, look at your commitment to your neighbor.
Especially the neighbor who is on the other side of the aisle, the other side of town, or the other side of the border.
To whom are you committed and to whom are you not committed? What do your commitments to another look like? How much are you willing to give and what and when do you hold back? What happens when you don’t get anything in return?
One of the things I know about myself, and maybe this is true for you too, is that I can always find the time, money, and energy for the people and things that really matter to me.
And regardless of how much I have I will never have enough time, money, and energy for the people and things that don’t matter to me. I hope you know that I’m not talking about the quantity of my hours or dollars, but the quality and shape of my commitments.
I think we’ve become so familiar with the two great commandants that we no longer hear what they’re asking of us.
Think about it like this. What if you asked someone, Do you love me? And after a long and awkward pause and considerable deliberation he or she said, Well, up to a certain point, under certain conditions, to a certain extent, yes, I do.
You have your answer but it’s probably not what you wanted to hear. We all know that’s not love and it’s not the commitment we want from someone who claims to love us.
The love, the commitment, that Jesus speaks about is all or nothing, everyone or no one. The only measure of love is love without measure
My guess, however, is that for most of us love is circumstantial. We tend to love others depending on the circumstances. Who the other is, what he or she has said or done, how they’ve treated us, whether we have positive feelings about or an attraction to them, whether we agree or disagree with them, and whether we consider them acceptable and lovable.
I wonder whose names and faces came up for you as I said that. Who is lovable and who is not? Who meets your criterion and who does not?
Circumstantial love sounds to me more like an investment than a commitment. When I invest in someone I usually expect a return on my investment. I’m looking for a profit. I want to know what’s in it for me.
But when I commit to someone, I’m in it for the other, not myself, and I willingly risk losing it all. Isn’t that what we see in the life of Jesus? Jesus didn’t invest Himself in the cross, He committed Himself to it. Isn’t that why we can speak of the cross as a symbol of love?
God wants all of you. When we are told to love God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength, it is just a way to describe every nook and cranny of our lives. Our desires, our affections, our ideas, our thoughts, our will, our actions, there is not one square inch of our lives over which Jesus does not rightfully claim.
But isn’t it interesting that we are commanded to love God in other religions, what is the most important command? God doesn’t just want servile subjects. He desires a relationship with you. He desires your love. God desire all of us.
God loves us. His plan was never to burden us. Every command in the Bible comes down to these two principles, love God and love others. If we focus on fulfilling these two commandments, we’ll find that we’re fulfilling all God’s commands in the process!!!
Father thank You for this day and for sending Jesus to share with us and to show us Your truth. Lord let Your abundant blessings fall upon my friend and family today. Lord be with us and grant us wisdom as we seek to live for You. Lord to love You is to trust You, to follow You, to obey You, to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Lord help us be loving today. Lord we pray that we may love You with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength, knowing that You gave Your life as a ransom for us. Lord use my friend to proclaim the Gospel with boldness today. Daddy we love You amen. Be a blessing. Love ya !
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