And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions. Mark 12:28-34 (ESV)
When the Savior of the world lets you in on what the most important part of God’s communication to His people, don’t you think that perhaps it might be a good idea to pay attention? I do!
Jesus said that all the commandments could be rolled into two. If you keep these two, you’ve got the foundation for absolutely everything else. Sweet!
Numero Uno – Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength.
And Dos – Love your neighbor as yourself.
Later on in Mark 12, there is a story about an insignificant woman doing something that seems very ordinary. She is simply going into the temple and giving an offering.
But Jesus notices her. He calls attention to her and points her out to his disciples.
Why was she so important?
And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” Mark 12:41-44 (ESV)
A poor widow giving all she has. In this simple act, she fulfills the greatest two commandments.
She loves God with all she has. All her heart.
She gives the only thing she has to live on. It didn’t make practical sense to give her food money to God. She loves God beyond what is reasonable and logical. All her mind.
She walks in, shabby and poor, among her wealthy neighbors who were coming in and showing off the large sums of their gifts. She is strong as she resists embarrassment for sake of love of the One True God. All her strength.
By giving to God all she has, she is also supporting the work of God that shares with all her neighbors. This poor widow in giving all she has is providing for their spiritual and physical needs. She is loving her neighbors as herself.
How am I fulfilling the two greatest commandments today? How am I actively loving God with all my heart (putting all my emotions into it even when I don’t feel like it), with all my mind (even when it is illogical and unreasonable), and with all my strength (when it takes all my strength, in sickness and embarrassment)? How am I loving my neighbor as myself (biased in their favor, believing the best about them, helping them in need)?
Action Step: What are the hard things that we are avoiding even though we know they are what God wants for us? What are the things that take all our hearts, all our minds, and all our strength? How can we love our neighbors better this week? Let’s take a moment and think about how we can live out these most important of God’s commandments. Then let’s do them.
God, help me to love you more and more everyday. I want to love you with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my strength. Open my eyes to love my neighbor as myself. In Jesus’ name, amen.