Mark 12:28-30
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this….
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.“
Truth is, and should be, simple.
Our Lord has a marvelous way of cutting through the dross to the heart of an issue — and He does exactly that in Mark 12 in identifying the Greatest Commandment of All.
Think about it….
For if we truly love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength, it follows that we also are faithful to the Ten Commandments because we would not want to offend or hurt Him.
The ten commandments follow the one greatest commandment, logically and naturally, because loving God with our whole heart, mind and soul, we would not want to offend or disappoint Him by:
- Worshiping other so-called gods, including our own selves as gods — which was the first sin of Lucifer and of our first parents in that first garden.
- Taking His name in vain — using His holy name as a profanity or as an emotional outburst. (Have you noticed how replete these exclamations are in contemporary movies and TV shows?)
- Not keeping holy His day.
- Not honoring our earthly parents who chose not to abort us and to whom we owe our very lives.
- Killing another in body or spirit.
- Disrespecting our marital vows and the institution of marriage by committing adultery.
- Stealing or wasting another’s possession, resource or time.
- Bearing false witness against or telling lies about another.
- Coveting — lusting or longing for — another’s spouse, which is a form of adultery.
- Coveting another’s goods — feeling envious, resentful, or entitled to what others have.
So, heed the words of Moses, in Deuteronomy 6:1, 5-7:
“This then is the commandment….
[Y]ou shall love the LORD, your God,
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength.
Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today.
Keep repeating them to your children.
Recite them when you are at home and when you are away,
when you lie down and when you get up.“
On this Halloween day, when Americans and many peoples across the world go into an orgy celebrating the forces of darkness, it is even more important that we counter the dark with the Light of Christ.
May the light, love and peace of Jesus Christ our Lord be with you!
~E