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
Like a good & long-suffering teacher, our GOD & his servants & even His Son, have reminded us over & over again of the 10 most important “commandments” to observe in our every day lives. What can be so difficult about these 10 parameters? It’s not like it’s a multi-thousand page Obama-care Bill (that we have to pass to find out what’s in it). It is succinct, brief, & an easy reference for even the lowest-level reader. Even if you can barely read, it is a simple expressions of basic human ethos: don’t kill others, don’t steal from others, don’t curse God with your language, don’t dishonor the parents who honored you with a “hand up” into the next generation business or education, and don’t be jealous of what your neighbors have, esp if you didn’t work to earn it, too. And so on and so on. (you now “the thing”…..Can I use an O’ Biden cop out for the rest?)
You’re right,Cal-and it’s really just common sense stuff,when you think about it. They’re all things I try to adhere to just because they naturally fit into my lifestyle 99% of the time. That last %,sometimes I have to work at,but it’s a worthy goal.
Slowly but surely,I think I’m finally getting closer to being the Man God would want me to be. I know there are areas I still need to work on,but I’m getting there.
Hey Doctor, you might find this book interesting:
https://archive.org/details/worshipdeadoror00garngoog/page/n44/mode/2up
The first chapter is about the connection between The Flood and the various ‘day of the dead’ type celebrations in cultures around the world. I found this so extremely interesting.
Thank you, Reuben, for the tip.
Here’s another link for the text of the entire book: https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Worship_of_the_Dead.html?id=jYkE1F8H1TAC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&gboemv=1
I look forward to reading it when I find the time. I’m in the midst of the time-consuming and very tedious task of sorting and clearing my possessions in preparation for my big move to a red state.
Ahhh you’re doing that big move…the writer J.R. Nyquist recently ditched northern California for the midwest. I live in a red enclave in a blue state and it seems safe for now, but I dread having to go through everything if that day ever comes.
Thank you Dr.E for this most important and wonderful post. I also agree that Truth is simple. If we love God first in our lives, everything will follow suit, you will also be able to love your neighbor as yourself. May God be praised, adored and loved first in our lives!
Doctor, the line about truth and simplicity made me remember a post on FOTM that was about a Fr. Malachi Martin quote about lies and complexity being a hallmark of evil. I wrote down the quote and part of your commentary on it. I’d love to read it again. Any chance of a repost or a reworking of the original?
Dear Reuben:
I referred to Fr. Martin several times on FOTM. Below is from my post of Feb. 9, 2014, “Lies are a hallmark of evil”:
That’s it, simplicity and clarity. I love the simplicity and clarity of this quote!
Also, where did he say his? I’ve read a few of his books and I thought they were all great. I read Keys of this Blood a second time after the covid madness started sweeping the world, to try to find a little bit of hope and understanding.
His book on the five exorcisms, Hostage to the Devil.
Thank you. I have that one too. That’s a frightening book.