Daily Devotional

-February 1, 2021-

Good morning, happy Monday,

-The Greatest Commandment Of All: To Love God-

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord, our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

(Deuteronomy 6:4-5).

The word great or greatest is bandied about so much today. Whether it is the greatest leader, greatest country, greatest company, greatest team, or greatest player now or for all time. With all the hyperbole, there is no doubt that today’s verse represents the greatest commandment in the Scriptures. God is great, His Word is great, and to love Him with every fabric of our being is the greatest commandment of all.

This verse is called the Shema in the Hebrew. It is very sacred among Orthodox Jews to this day. It begins by expressing the oneness of God, “The Lord our God, the Lord is one. He is one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the very first book of the Bible we read in Genesis 1:26-27, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” The Hebrew word for God in this portion is Elohim, a plural pronoun. Just as there is the triune God, man is also a tripartite being: spirit, soul, and body. You and I are one person with three distinct parts.

God’s love is the greatest of all. He loves all people, and desires that everyone get saved. His love is eternal. God can never and would stop loving us. He has a special love for His children. In the NT, the Greek word for God’s love is agape; it is a sacrificial, unselfish, and giving love. We will never fully know why God would love us.

God calls upon us to love Him as He loves us with all our heart, soul, and strength. In the NT, love and obedience go together as it does here in our verse. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:15; John 14:21).

Love is the greatest virtue and love for God is the greatest love. The only way to love Him is with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength. We love each other, our parents, spouses, children, and friends, but none can compare to our love for God. All other loves are based on His love.

May the Lord help us to love the Lord and by being obedient to Him, devoted to Him, to live for Him, and to serve Him. Love for our Lord is the greatest motivation of all.

Have a blessed day loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean