With all that I am       - 30 March 2010

“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, is this: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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: Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:28-31 [NIV]

This is a relatively well-known passage, often referred to as the greatest commandment. It shows the basic, boiled down requirements that should underpin all of our relationships. There is the ‘vertical’ love between each of us and God, a connection between us and God in the heavens above. Then there is the ‘horizontal’ love between us and one another. Together they form the greatest sign of love that we know; the cross of Christ.

The stronger the vertical connection, the stronger our relationship with and love for Jesus and the more that we are able to be transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit, and the more able we will be able to show the love of Christ to others; the first leading to the second.

But, how easy is it to love the Lord our God with all that we are, heart, soul, mind and strength? It’s something that can’t be measured; there is no ‘easy calculator’ or quick questionnaire in a magazine to come up with the answer; it’s between each of us and God at the end of the day.

Today, spend time with God and meditate on the question, “Do I love God with all that I am?”

Is there anything that God is asking you to change?

Amen