The Greatest Commandment

I was reading through Matthew 22 this morning, as I've been studying the gospel a chapter a day for the last few weeks. I found myself beginning to blow through verse 37...but a got a little nudge. The wise guys were asking Jesus what the "greatest commandment" was. He answered, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." (Matthew's version stops there--Mark's gospel adds, "and with all your strength".) Yeah...I know. I've read it/heard it a million times.


I read it again. It's a commandment=something we are required to do. It's the greatest commandment=the most important thing we are required to do. Okay. I get it...but did I?


I thought about that word "Love"--the very first word in this "commandment" or thing I am required to do. The Greek used here is "agape"=unconditional love. But as I chewed on this, I took it a bit further. How do I love God? Love to me is a verb=action, something you DO...so how do I do this? If I want to show Mark I love him I can do XYZ...If I want to show love to a neighbor (like last weekend with the snow) I can shovel the giant snow mound around their mailbox so they can get their mail. If I want to show love to Solomon I just hug and praise and make sure his needs are taken care of. But God? GOD!?


I really paused on this. How do I love God? And not only am I to love Him, I'm to love Him with ALL my heart, soul, and mind=every bit of my very being. Do I do that??? Have I done that??? Am I working daily on doing that more and better???


When I think about my relationship with God/Jesus/Holy Spirit, lately it's been a quest to "get to know" better. I read a chapter and ask myself, "What do I learn about Jesus from this?", write it down, and then try and figure out how to apply it to my life so I can be more like Him. When I pray, I ask for things but I also spend time in humility, confession, adoration, and "frank talk". But is that LOVE? I started to get really caught up on this...


1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter, came to mind. Am I patient with God? Mostly, yes. Am I kind to Him? His creation? More often than not. Do I insist on having my own way? No--I defer to "Thy will be done"...But is that actively loving Him???


As I was driving to Camden I began to talk with God about this, confessing that I certainly want to make sure I am, in fact, carrying out this Greatest Commandment the right way. Because honestly when I think of God, love is not the first word or feeling that comes to mind. It's "need", it's "dependence", it's "gratitude", it's "Rock", but not love. Hmmm...


During my talk with God, I got a little prompt in my heart when I asked Him to show me how to love Him the way I'm supposed to...and the word that came to mind was "Father"...and I began to cry. I read a few days ago about Jesus rebuking the disciples when the little children wanted to come be with Him and they were trying to prevent it. We are taught to come to God with childlike faith...trusting, vulnerable, but almost with a blind faith.


I recall having that with my dad, my "Pop" as a child and even into adulthood. Yes, he had faults--he was human after all. But I adored him and knew that I could come to him with anything. I asked for advice and he gave it. I needed help and he was there. He was a hero when I was a little kid and a refuge/rock into adulthood when I needed some guidance. Not perfect but, in my mind, pretty darn close.


And, as I continued to pray and sort all this out, God is my PERFECT Father. I believe He wants us to view Him as such and love Him in that way. To know and love that we can come to Him for advice (which is perfect), for a need (which He know to fill or perhaps to not fill), to be my hero and Rock and fortress amidst anything...and to have that childlike faith and trust in Him...that He is good (as I knew my dad to be). To spend time with Him, as I did with my dad, just to grow the relationship and to enjoy each other. yeah...I was driving amidst many tears as I figured all this out.


As I quest onward to try and find a suitable focus for Lent, I am considering sacrificing some time to simply get to know God better as a Father...to "hang out" and chat (maybe while walking on the beach or in the woods) or delve into His word a bit deeper in the mornings (perhaps a Facebook fast for 40 days)...All I know is that I'm grateful for the "nudge" as I tried to breeze through the passage...you never know what you might be challenged with...and I'm glad that God still finds me worthy to work on.