Thou Shalt Love

Scripture:  Matthew 22:37...'And he said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  The second is like the first, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself (that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others), The whole Law and the (writings of the prophets) depend on these two commandments.

   So, our heart, soul, mind are not three distinct small pieces of ourselves that we may offer.  They all point to who we really are.  The Bible indicates that our hearts are central.  The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.  'For out of the overflow of his heart, his mouth speaketh.' (Luke 6:45) Everything we are and have beginning with our innermost comments and all our thoughts, we must devote to loving, adoring, and serving the Lord.

   Jesus, then said, that (to love God) is the first and greatest in that it represents the heartbeat of the commandments.  Also, in John l4:l5 RSV, Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep My commandments.  That is...if we truly love God, we will keep all the other commandments as well as the greatest ones.

   Today, we all need a reminder about obeying all the commandments of God.  Some people today understand 'love' as merely a happy feeling for others or friendliness.  They think that, providing they feel good about the idea of God, they may just go and do as they please.  Love does not replace obeying God's commands in our lives.  Love gives us the right 'motives' so we can truly, from the heart, obey His Word.

   This is true even on a human level.  What would a mother think if her young son is constantly saying he loves her; but, then, he disobeys, back-talks, and never helps out without force?  The Bible says in I John 3:18 (NIV)...'Let us not love with words or tongue, but with 'action' and with truth.'

   Really loving our Lord means honoring Him, revering Him, and paying close attention to what He is trying to tell us/say to us...'Do not merely listen to the Word and so 'deceive' yourself.  Do what it says'...James l:22 (NIV).

   What wise direction Jesus gives he shows us how to avoid both errors.  Jesus directs us beyond legalism and asks, "Are we really devoted to God?"  "Have we asked God to cleanse our hearts?"  On the other side of the coin, He leads us beyond the freedom by indicating that God does expect us to obey Him; not with just good feelings and wishes.  The Lord wants us to please Him by following the ways He has spoken to us to follow, not by making up our own ways, and call them pleasing to God and simply religious human works.

   Loving Our Neighbor - Matthew 22:39 (NIV).  'Jesus added, 'The second is like it'...'Love Your Neighbor as Yourself.'

    In I John, these words become explicit, 'We love God because He first loved us'.  If anyone says, 'I love God; yet hates his brother, for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?'...I John 4:20.

   Our Loving God empowers us to love other people.  The commandment not to murder found in Exodus 20:13 and not to steal in Exodus 20:l5 are not just about refraining from evil.  They imply that we should look for positive ways to enhance the life and prosperity of our neighbors.  The focus on love help us not to settle for a minimum concern for neighbors, but to actually obeying and not just listening.  (James l:22).

   When we read The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, we begin to see some of the deep implications of God's commandments.  And, we need to ask ourselves, "How can we ever measure up to the standard that asks for perfection in  our motivation and outward obedience?"

   (YOU AND I CANNOT MEASURE UP)..BUT...There is one who does.  We read in I John 4:l0 (NASB)...'In this is 'Love', not that we loved God, but He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.'

   Jesus loved us perfectly and gave himself for us...Gal. 2:24.  He saved us when none of us could save ourselves..(Romans 5:6-10).  And, now, when we put our trust in him, we are transformed through His Holy Spirit, through the renewing of our minds in the New Birth...so that we 'imitate' the pattern of His love.  'A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another'... John l3: 34-35.  Through Jesus Chris

t and His Indwelling Holy Spirit, we receive not only the understanding of God's will, but the 'power' and 'motivation' to serve Him in full love and devotion.  In receiving the baptism of His 'agape love' from the Father, we can in turn 'love others'... all from the Father as we are willing to humble ourselves and yield to Him and His ways.

CLOSING PRAYER:  Lord, the Refiner's Fire is burning.  Cleanse our hearts, open up our minds and anoint us afresh with the very agape love from on high, Lord, so we can turn this world upside down.  In Jesus' Name...Hallelujah!..and Amen.