March 15 - Deuteronomy 6:5

You shall love the Lord your God with all

your heart, and with all your soul,

and with all your might.

Deuteronomy 6:5

 

Deuteronomy 6:5 is arguably the second most important verse in the Bible.

• The most important is probably John 3:16 which talks about God's amazing, self-giving love for us: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." That's what God did for us. 
• Jesus made Deuteronomy 6:5 the second most important verse when said that this is what we should do for God: "Mt 22:36 "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"37 [Jesus] said to him, " "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'"

You probably know that already, right?!! But do you know what (God-through-)Moses commanded the people to do next? The told them -- and us -- to ...

• 6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. How well are you doing at keeping not just the words about loving God in your heart, but a real, live, active love of the Lord in heart, mind, and practice? 
• 7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. How well are you keeping God's name and values at the forefront of your family's life -- morning, noon, and night? when you turn on the TV? in the language you use? as your children choose friends? How actively are you teaching God's truths and modeling God's love for you children?
• 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, 9 and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. When I was in Israel, every door to a home (including the temporary home of our hotel rooms) had this command, called the shema, attached to their door posts. Usually it was a scrolls which was placed in a little cylinder called a mezuzah. Some of the more orthodox Jews also had a little leather case strapped to their foreheads -- although some would argue that what God and Moses meant was carrying this command in the forefront of our minds. Nevertheless, these are constant, visible reminders. What constant reminders do you have to love God with your heart, soul, strength, and mind?

In Christ's Love,

The Guy with the God's Love Tatoo

(I hope you can see his love tatooed

on my forehead through the way I live my life)