“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.” Mark 12:30-31 (NIV)
Think about a tidbit of wisdom handed down through your family—it might be a small piece of advice, but it holds special meaning because of who shared it and its practical value. For instance, “Measure twice, cut once.” If you’ve ever done a carpentry project, you know how valuable this advice is, saving you from ending up with a stack of unusable lumber.
Just as this wisdom has practical value in our daily lives, Jesus shared timeless wisdom drawn from the Scriptures. He often drew from the Hebrew Scriptures, our Old Testament, to underscore the continuity and fulfillment of the teachings. In today’s passage, which appears in the synoptic gospels, Jesus restates the wisdom provided by God the Father to early Israel. When asked which of the commandments of the Law are most important, He replies with something that the people were already familiar with, “Love the Lord you God” (Deu 6:5) and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Lev 19:18)
The message that Jesus had to share wasn’t to replace what was known but to introduce the context by which the wisdom was to be understood. By referencing these two Old Testament passages, Jesus emphasized the importance of love as the foundation of His teachings. The greatest commandment highlights love for God (Deuteronomy 6:5) and love for others (Leviticus 19:18), encapsulating the essence of all the laws and prophets.
While we may know the wisdom—we’ve heard it often enough—and it has a sentimental place in our hearts, we must put it into practice. Returning to our example, if I’m cutting a board and I measure only once, I’ll be cutting twice and wasting expensive lumber. Similarly, if I am aware of the ageless wisdom, God’s commandments, to love Him with all my being, and to love my neighbor as myself—yet fail to act—I’m being unresponsive to God’s grace.
How can we actively live out these commandments each day? By starting our morning with the worship of God. Thank Him for all He has done for you in the past and pray for His guidance to face whatever lies ahead this day. Keep that attitude of prayer going throughout the day. It needn’t be a long prayer–a brief conversation works. Think of it as calling your best friend to hear their voice and recount your day. Love of our neighbor can be as simple as saying a kind word, lending a helping hand, or simply being present for someone in need. As we strive to embody the love that Jesus taught, let us make it the foundation of our lives, reflecting His love in all we do.
Heavenly Father, thank You for the timeless wisdom You have given us through Your Word. Help us love You with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Guide us daily to practice this wisdom, showing kindness, compassion, and love in all that we do. May Your love be the foundation of our lives, and may we reflect Your grace to those around us. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
Blessings,
Pastor Tim
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