[Editor’s note: Today’s meditation is very special to me. It was written by my Mom, Lois Wall, and it bears the imprint of her gracious spirit and her lifelong devotion to growing in Christ. As we enter into Holy Week and remember Jesus’ final days and deeds in pursuit of our reconciliation with God, Mom’s words offer a reminder that forgiving is part and parcel of loving our neighbors.]
“Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall 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, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:28-31.
When we meditate on these words of Jesus, they keep us centered on God. Simply stated, we are here to love God with our whole being. It is no wonder that devout Jews quoted these words morning and night. In Deuteronomy 6:4-5 the Israelites were taught first of all to “Hear” (hear and obey) God’s will and to impress these words on the hearts of their children. We know how the story proceeded from there that sometimes the Israelites listened and obeyed God and other times they did not and slid into rebellion.
Today we want these words to be lived out in our lives each day as well. These verses we teach to our children from early on—at home and church. We want to have this personal relationship with our living, loving God, to experience this daily walk of faith with the Lord. How are we doing regarding loving the Lord and seeking Him with all of our being? The second part of this passage should reveal the answer.
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Let us recognize our need to maintain and nourish our relationship with God and His Spirit and the result should be seen in all our human relationships. John teaches us that we need to love with actions and in truth. We ought to love one another because He loved us first. In fact, we are lying if we claim to love God but hate our brother!
Consider the parable of the unforgiving servant. A servant begs the king to forgive him of his 10,000 talent debt – a debt so large that it would be impossible to ever pay back. But the king forgives him, and the servant goes out and demands that his fellow servant repay him a hundred denarii, perhaps a day’s wages! When the king is informed of this distressing deed, he has the wicked servant turned over to the jailers to be tortured. The Lord’s Prayer also teaches us we will be forgiven of our debts as we forgive others.
To sum up these core truths, we cannot love others as ourselves if we are not depending on God’s grace as fully forgiven children. We do not want to fall into the trap of those who sought the approval of Jesus with their legalistic works. We can love and serve God with all our being and others—through His power.
Recent Comments