"A COMMITMENT TO LOVE GOD"

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."

Matthew 22:37

Today's verse is a rather famous quote from the Lord Jesus, who just had a conversation with the Sadducees concerning the resurrection of the dead. This religious group denied the truth about the resurrection and believed only the first five books of the Old Testament, also known as the Pentateuch or Torah. Jesus' teaching on the resurrection silenced the Sadducees, causing the Pharisees (another religious group in Israel), to send one of their own to ask Jesus an age-old question: What is the greatest commandment?

The religious leaders of Israel have been debating about the greatest among the 613 laws in the Old Testament. Undoubtedly, no human being could and can meet the strict demands of the law. So, to make things easier, they divided the laws into two groups: 248 positive laws and 365 negative laws. They also categorized the laws into heavy (important) and light (unimportant). A person can focus on the heavy laws and not worry too much about the light laws.

Jesus responded to the question by first quoting the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4), which means "to hear.” The Jews considered reciting the Shema twice per day as one of their most sacred duties. Jesus said that the most important law was to love God with all of one’s heart, soul, and mind (Mark and Luke add "strength"). His point is not to outline the distinct human capacities, but to emphasize the completeness of the kind of love God demands.

In other words, to love God with all heart, soul, and mind means to love God through our thoughts, emotions, and will—God must rule our entire being. However, this kind of demand is humanly impossible, mainly because of our sinful nature. Like the religious leaders of Israel who divided the laws into two parts and majored in the "heavy" laws, we too, tend to follow in their footsteps. We emphasize the things we think are major while ignoring the minor ones.

However, the Bible clarifies that failure to obey the law perfectly, even missing one law, is equivalent to violating the entire body of laws (James 2:10). 

Paul, who is perhaps the most prolific Christian who ever lived, confessed that he struggled with sin (Romans 7)! If Paul, a renowned Apostle, admitted his inability to obey the law altogether, where does that leave us?

Thankfully, God understands our weaknesses. That's why He does not demand our absolute adherence to the law as the basis for salvation. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). The law was never intended to save anyone, but to show us how far you and I have fallen from God's standards (Romans 3:20). That's what makes Jesus' sacrifice all the more profound. Jesus perfectly obeyed the law and died for you and me. But wait, there's more: His perfect righteousness is credited to your and my account (2 Corinthians 5:21) if we repent of our sins and put our saving faith in Him.

Are you committed to loving God?

Pursue the Saviour today!