The First and Greatest Commandment
Matt 22:37-38 - Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. The title verse was Jesus’ response when one of the Pharisee’s asked Him which was the greatest commandment of the law. Not only that, Jesus went on to say that on that and the second commandment, to love thy neighbor as thyself, hang ALL of the law and the prophets. Everything is wrapped up in those two commandments and they, especially the first and greatest one, should be the Christian’s highest focus and pursuit, to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. Yet, with that clear call and exhortation before us, I can’t count how many times I’ve heard Christians talk, somewhat nonchalantly, about how badly they fail at it. It’s almost become a bragging right to proclaim how miserably we fail the first commandment, I guess to show how “humble” we are about it. It’s as if we ...