Jesus was answering a question posed to him, perhaps by a detractor or may be he was a sincere seeker! In either case, the answer is what I am trying to highlight and understand better here!
Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind. In another place, Jesus speaks of this very command as being the gist of all that the law and the prophets are trying to say! So this commandment is elementary and crucial. It is the Bible in “One Sentence”. It’s the scriptures in a nutshell. It’s like the banner that announces our advent into an assemblage of philosophy, theology, practical directions and incidents that do not just make us marvel but also uplift our soul. So, one cannot be interpreting and comprehending the deeper facts and truths and the mysteries of the word without having noticed this “billboard” command!
It does come into the notice of everyone but the question is do we really understand its demand! I think, God is so upfront about it that no one will have any excuse if he belittles the weight of what is required in and through this command!
So what’s there hidden in this command that we would miss it? Isn’t it so very plain and clear and isn’t the response equal to what most of us are already doing! We all do love God with all that we can!
Do we? Maybe a deeper look would help us determine where we stand!
First of all, let me look at where most of us are! Jesus said, “If you love me, obey my commands”! Many of us will jump up to that and declare that the response expected from us is “that”! Obey his commands and teachings and when we do that, our response to loving God is well-defined and well-done! Is it? To me, this statement of Jesus sounds more like a warning! If you love me, obey my commands! Jesus is surely not defining love here. He is stating that the minimum expected of us when we say we love him is obeying his commands! It’s the bottom line. For heaven’s sake, it is not the meaning of love, not the complete direction to define our response.
Strangely, most of us are happy to have understood this fact of obeying all his commands. We remind ourselves and others about it and strive to reach there. We often restrain ourselves just to that and define our response to God’s love within the precincts of it! The sadder part however is that a majority of us never even reach there! So we do not even meet the basic and minimum requirement of loving God let alone respond in the way God demands it!
What is the meaning of what Jesus is laying down!? Well, three things are very clear straight on.
1) The response to this command has to be voluntary2) The response has to be supreme, the best
3) The response has to abiding, consistentNow, perhaps we do know and understand the above aspects of what this commandment says. But, is there anything more to it that this? Does this command imply more that what is obvious! Look at the following!
Strangely, most of us are happy to have understood this fact of obeying all his commands. We remind ourselves and others about it and strive to reach there. We often restrain ourselves just to that and define our response to God’s love within the precincts of it! The sadder part however is that a majority of us never even reach there! So we do not even meet the basic and minimum requirement of loving God let alone respond in the way God demands it!
What is the meaning of what Jesus is laying down!? Well, three things are very clear straight on.
1) The response to this command has to be voluntary2) The response has to be supreme, the best
3) The response has to abiding, consistentNow, perhaps we do know and understand the above aspects of what this commandment says. But, is there anything more to it that this? Does this command imply more that what is obvious! Look at the following!
1) The love for God should control our lives. It should be the overwhelming thought through the day from the time of waking up to the time of lying down. In everything we see, speak, think and do, God should be one of the constants. At times he needs to be the focus, at times he needn’t be, but all times he needs to be there. There is nothing said or done without factoring in this element!
2) The desire to please God should overshadow every other desire. If the first point was in the mind, the second is in the expression. The desire always should be to find out what would please our God and the effort would be to do it. Just as in any love, to increase the pleasure of the beloved is primary!
2) The desire to please God should overshadow every other desire. If the first point was in the mind, the second is in the expression. The desire always should be to find out what would please our God and the effort would be to do it. Just as in any love, to increase the pleasure of the beloved is primary!
3) There needs to be sympathy for those who love God! Meeting anyone who also loves God should excite us! This paves way for us to meet the demand of the word when it exhorts us to love our brother who can be seen as a necessary add-on to loving God who cannot be seen!
So where are me and you now? Obviously the above three points are still not the “everything” about God’s expected response from us. But when God has given “His all”, what’s stopping us to give him more with each passing day! Lord, please help me to be involved with you with all of my mind, soul, heart and strength! Won’t you join with me in saying so!
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