Verse of the Day 3/20
Matthew 22:37-39 And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. English Standard Version (ESV)
I had mentioned the other day that discipleship, being a follower has been on my mind now for a few weeks. It seems that every passage I turn to, every message I hear, has something to do with discipleship. I read this passage in my devotions this morning. It is perhaps one of the best examples of what true discipleship looks like if put to practice in life. Loving God and loving others as yourself.
The verses are easy to repeat. They just about roll off of your tongue. You have probably heard and pretty much understood them since you were a little child. The Jews would be familiar with the the concepts going back to the books of Deuteronomy of loving God in the Shema in chapter 6 and loving others in Leviticus chapter 19.
As disciples, as followers of Jesus today, we are still called to shape our lives by these two great concepts, two great commandments to love God and others. They are easy to say in a single breath and requiring every breath, full devotion in order to live out.
As is usually the case, the words from verses most often bring my mind to songs and hymns, sometimes in the recesses of my mind. The thoughts of discipleship and living according to today's verses brought me to this hymn, "Living for Jesus".
Striving to please Him in all that I do;
Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free,
This is the pathway of blessing for me.
- O Jesus, Lord and Savior,
I give myself to Thee,
For Thou, in Thy [redemption],*
Didst give Thyself for me;
I own no other Master,
My heart shall be Thy throne,
My life I give, henceforth to live,
O Christ, for Thee alone.
As we go about today may we love others, and as The Message puts it "love God with all your passion, prayer and intelligence".
Matthew 22:36-40
The Message (MSG)
The Most Important Command
34-36 When the Pharisees heard how he had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: "Teacher, which command in God's Law is the most important?"
37-40 Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them."
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