Scripture Verses
Mark 12:28-34
28One 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?"
29"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'[b] 31The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[c]There is no commandment greater than these."
32"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33To 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."
34When 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.
Devotion
In Jesus’ day, there were over 600 different Jewish laws and commandments. To pick out the most important commandment could have been hard to do, but not for Jesus. Jesus knew God, the core of God’s laws, the core of God’s word and the most important thing, God’s heart. The very nature of God is love. How appropriate that a love message would be the two commandments he gave as the most important.
Mark 12: 28-34 has also been called “The Great Commandment”. It is not from an actual law but comes from before the Ten Commandments were even given. It comes from a daily Jewish prayer found in Deuteronomy 6: 4-5. Leviticus 19:18 is where the Bible first speaks of loving your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus’ answer emphasizes God’s sovereignty over all humanity. He first said to love God and then second to love your neighbor, all humans, as yourself. It’s not good enough to just believe, trust and worship God; we are to above all LOVE God. Love is a priority for God and is to be a priority for us. We are to love God with our whole being and we learn to do that by loving each other.
God showed us love by sending his son into the world. Because he loved us, Jesus was the sacrifice for our sins. There is no greater love then that. Today, Christians, disciples of Christ, are known by their love. What a great description to have! Showing our love is what it means for us to be part of the people of God. As it says in I Corinthians, “faith, hope and love remain, these three, but the greatest of these is love.”
Prayer
Dear God, open our hearts, souls and minds that we may more fully love you. May we be willing to always show love to our neighbors so that others see your love in us.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
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