What does loving God will all your heart, sou, mind, and strength look like? How would someone, looking at my life, agree that I have given my everything to love my Creator? How would I, at the ripe old age of ninety-four (I have years before I hit that magic number, by the way), look back at my life and feel the satisfaction that in every facet of my life, I gave it to God? What would the fruit of my desire to put God first in my life look like?
It doesn’t stop with just loving on God. It also means I must love other human beings—no matter their skin color, physical disability, nationality, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, number of tattoos, political party affiliation, preference of music style (although in my opinion, country music is the best), marital status—I love people exactly as much as I love myself, no exceptions.
Alright already, I get that; I understand what Jesus has said. But what does that look like, as it comes to realization in my own life? How could I feel confident that I am journeying in the direction that the Rabbi, Jesus, is walking? How could I know I’m following close behind him? When do I know that his dust has settled on me?
I believe too many times, as followers of Jesus, we get wrapped up in the “rule-following” of religion rather than the tidal wave of love that is Jesus. As followers, we believe that using the “spiritual clipboard” to check off the things we are doing or not doing is what God, through his Son, Jesus, wants us to do. However, based upon Jesus’ scathing rebuttal of the “clipboard checkers” (that is, the religious leaders of his time) in Matthew 23, I feel God has called us to live a life that many of us miss—a call to love God and love people with no strings attached…unconditionally. Jesus reminds us to love God with everything we have, and to love people with that same intensity in Mark 12:30-31.
Jesus calls us as his followers and says, “The most important commandment is this…you must love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these two.”
So, how have you loved today? What has your tone and body posture been like with others? Did you start the day in prayer and God’s Word? How have you positioned yourself to live this out in your family, in your work place, in your neighborhood? People know you claim to be a follower of Jesus. Live in such a way that there is never any doubt! Blessings on your journey.