majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Deuteronomy 6:4-5.,
"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
strength."
These two verses, starting with the Shema, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord
our God, the Lord is one." and finishing with what Jesus himself
described as the greatest command, were both quoted by him in Mark
12:29-30 to one of the teachers of the law.
The first verse, called the "Shema" is a centerpiece of the morning
and evening Jewish prayer services. It speaks of the monotheistic
essence of God. The triune God: the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit we worship is the only God. There is only one God existing in
three persons.
The second verse Jesus called the most important command, "Love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your strength." In the passage in Mark, Jesus went on to quote
Leviticus 19:18 as the second greatest command, "Love your neighbor as
yourself." Jesus' comment there was "There is no commandment greater
than these."
The second verse, Deuteronomy 6:5, grips my heart this morning. To
love the Lord with all of my heart, all of my soul and all of my
strength is something! There isn't much left of my life beyond all of
my heart, all of my soul and all of my strength. Is the Lord due all
of this from me? How does this look? How do I do it? How do I arrive
at that place where it could be said of me that I love the Lord that
much?
I am afraid I fail miserably! Certainly our Lord is due this from me.
The Lord is my creator: he brought me into life. The Lord is my
redeemer: he paid the price for my sin. I am his. I owe everything I
am and have to him. The Lord is certainly due this from me.
When all the trappings of church involvement are stripped away, when
all my self-perceived "good points", spiritual disciplines, Bible
reading, prayer, etc. are all stripped away, there is just this: do I
love the Lord with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my
strength? I fail miserably!
It is just at this point that I celebrate the grace of God! I find I
am utterly helpless to do what would establish for me my own
righteousness. I find that I am completely at the mercy of God's
wonderful, matchless grace! He loves me, he is merciful toward me, his
kindness is expressed to me, not because of anything I have done.
Indeed, I am just incapable within myself! It is God's grace that he
loves me. It is God's grace that he accepts me. It is entirely God's
grace that will present me before him "without fault and with great
joy"!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment