The GREATEST COMMANDMENT in the Bible
February 22
Bible Reading: Deuteronomy Chapters 4-6
The GREATEST COMMANDMENT in the Bible
After 40 years of wandering in the desert, Moses
dutifully carried out God’s instructions to reiterate and remind the Israelites
about their journey so far, and teach them God’s law as their preparation to
enter the Promised Land. Obedience to God’s law should be a priority, as in the
words of Moses: "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a
jealous God" (Deut 4:24). After introducing God’s law (Deut
4:44-49), Moses reviews the Ten Commandments with the Israelites (Deut 5:1-22).
By way of concluding his teaching of God’s commandments, Moses then proclaims
the GREATEST commandment ever mentioned in the Bible: "Hear, O
Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength" (Deut
6:4-5)
The first and greatest commandment of God's law is that we love God with ALL our heart, soul, mind and strength. This love should include four crucial components:
- Sincere – we must love God from our hearts and not
in lip service and empty words.
- Strong – we must love God passionately surpassing
all our other emotions.
- Shrewd – we must love God with all of our
understanding and reasoning power.
- Superlative – we must love God above anybody or
anything else in our lives.
In the New Testament, our Lord Jesus Christ confirmed this fact: 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" (Matt 22:35-40).
In order to please God, let us focus all our energy in loving God truly in all areas our lives - reflected by fearing God, obeying all that He has commanded us and by loving others. If we do that, we will fulfill God’s longing for us mentioned in Deut 5:29: "Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!” (Deut 5:29)
