May 5, 2009 The Ultimate Love
Today’s Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 10; 1 Chronicles 19–20; Psalm 20; Matthew 22
Scripture Focus:
Matthew 22:35–40 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Observation:
The Bible is full of things we should do and things we should not do, but Jesus lets us know that if we exercise the right kind of love for God and for our neighbors, we will have fulfilled whatever the laws intend.
Application:
I find it very easy to love what I want to love—my family and friends, the activities I want to do, even the things I have or want—but it doesn’t come naturally to love God with all my heart, so that I care about him more than anything, nor does it come naturally to love my neighbor as myself.
So perhaps I should start out by desiring to love God and my neighbor in this way and asking God to help me grow in this area.
Prayer:
Abba Father, I want to love you with all my heart, soul, and mind today, and to also love my neighbor as myself. That’s a tall order. Only your Spirit can bring that about in me today.
