Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Jesus was once asked what the greatest commandment was, from the whole law of God. He answered that the first and great command (primo and mega in the Greek) was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.
He went on to give a bonus answer, by supplying a second great commandment, which is that you should love your neighbor as yourself.
He claimed that all the law flowed from these two. (Matthew 22:35-40)
These have been popularized in our day by the Duck Dynasty television program, and their merchandise that is emblazoned with, “Fear God. Love your neighbor. Hunt ducks.”
Many teachers have pointed out that the Ten Commandments were given in two “tables” that correspond with these two great commandments. The first five have to do with loving God, and the rest illustrate what it means to love your neighbor.
In our culture, when you ask someone what it means to love God, you will get answers centered on emotions and feelings. (Overall, we tend to equate love with feelings, which the Bible does not.) For us, to love God probably means we don’t hate the concept. We’re not mad at the idea of God, especially if he’s nice. We think warm, fuzzy things about God, and that must be what it means to love him.
However, when that first, greatest commandment was given, it actually came with some instructions. God didn’t leave it up to our feelings. There are specific actions that illustrate the love we’re supposed to have for God.
Here is the passage that Jesus was referencing. It is Deuteronomy 6:4-9:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
Note what follows the bit that Jesus mentioned. After commanding us to love God, it goes on to speak more specifically about loving the words of God; teaching them to our kids; and, putting them all around us as reminders.
What shall we say about the one who claims to love God but is indifferent or even hostile to the word of God? Or, what of the one who supposedly loves the Lord but shirks his responsibility to train his children in the faith?
Only Jesus can judge the heart, of course, but we can say plainly that their actions are not in accordance with the Lord’s own definition of what it means to love him. Jesus said that if we love him, we will keep his commandments. (John 14:15)
I am thankful that many who read this column are faithful to pursue the Lord in his word on a regular basis, and do everything in their power to point their loved ones to God. If we are lacking in these areas, may God fill our hearts with true love.
Gordan Runyan is the pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Tucumcari. Contact him at: