Matthew the apostle wrote, “when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?”, and in chapter twenty-two and verse thirty-seven of his book Matthew shared how Jesus said, “you shall love the Lord your God” where we read:
Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
The verse reads, “Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, ...” Matthew began with the words, “Jesus said” or “Jesus who is the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate uttered, declared, proclaimed and answered” “unto him” which means “to the lawyer”, “you shall love” or “a person shall welcome, entertain, be fond of, be pleased with and be contented with” “the Lord” which means “the One whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah” “your God” which refers to “a person's Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “with all” or “with the person's every whit, whole and complete portion of” “your heart” which means “the person's centre of all physical and spiritual life”. Matthew shared how Jesus declared “loving God” “completely and with every whit” from the “center of their physical, emotional and spiritual life” was the beginning of obeying the “greatest commandment of the law”.
The verse continues, “... and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Matthew added the words, “and with all” which means “and with the person's every whit, whole and complete portion of” “your soul” or “the person's breath of life and vital force which animates the body and shows itself in breathing”, “and with all” which refers to “and with the person's every whit, whole and complete portion of” “your mind” which means “a person's understanding and imagination”. Matthew shared how Jesus continued to share how the “greatest commandment in the law” requires that a person “love God” with their “completely and with every whit” of their “breath of life and understanding”.
When we meditate upon Matthew's words in this verse, we see how the whole of a person was to be given to God in “love”. The “heart, soul and mind” are required to obey the “greatest commandment of all”, and when a person submits themselves to God's Son Jesus as their “Savior and Lord”, they have demonstrated the “greatest love” for God's law they may ever have. Let all who read these words examine their “love” toward God, and should they find themselves incomplete in any area, let them pray and ask God to help them obey His “greatest commandment” with all their being.
Next time Matthew wrote how Jesus continued, “this is the first and great commandment”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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