Mission Devotional Day 17
You shall love the Lord your God
Mission Devotional Day 17
READ: Matthew 22:34-39
The gospel of Matthew is known for its extended teaching passages, and some scholars see five major sections in Matthew that correspond to the Torah, the Five Books of Moses. Certainly, Matthew’s is the most Jewish of the gospels. Matthew records Jesus summarizing his instruction in the Great Commandment, the Great Judgment, and the Great Commission.
In Matthew’s account, it is during a religious debate that a Pharisee asks Jesus, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” One gets the sense that the Pharisee is seeking to lay a trap rather than genuinely seeking the truth. In replying, Jesus refers to the great Hebrew prayer, the Shema. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And he says that the second, from Leviticus is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
How do these verses inform us as we seek to participate in God’s work of bringing good news and binding up the brokenhearted?
Perhaps we can say this: If we do not get these right, then all else that we do and say will be on a shaky foundation. Are we expressing our love for God in the ways we live for him? Are we reaching out to our neighbors in love, or is there some other motivation behind our behavior?
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
Jesus tells his listeners, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Can you think of times when you realized that despite your efforts to do good, you were not acting out of love for God and neighbor?
Can you think of a time when doing the loving thing for a neighbor may not have been perceived by them as loving?
PRAYER
Gracious God, your word teaches us that we love because you first loved us. Is it because of your love that we even know what genuine love is? Help us to align our heart, soul, and might in love for you. Amen.