The Greatest Commandment

I found myself getting ready for bed tonight when I realized that I had not yet spent any time in direct communication with my Lord.  As I talked a little bit about in my last post, one of my goals right now is to be in the Word every day.  The past few weeks have been difficult for me.  I've been sick a lot lately, and have felt distant from God at some points.  That is silly though.  God promises to always be by our side.  He will never leave us nor forsake us.  We're the ones that turn our backs on the Almighty.  You know something funny?  When I feel distant from God is when I find myself the most reluctant to come to Him.  I feel as though I'm unworthy or that I can't approach Him.  Again, this is silly.  I am not now and will NEVER  be worthy to approach His throne.  The good news is that Christ died for me on a cross, when He was innocent, so that I can approach God clean and forgiven.  Jesus' blood paid the price of my sins and mistakes, and every moment I spend not in constant prayer with the Lord is a waste of time in my opinion.  


The title of this blog is The Greatest Commandment and that is where I feel God leading me to tonight.  The passage that inspired the title of my blog is Deuteronomy 6:4.  (I use the NKJV Nelson Study Bible and so most scripture quoted in this blog will be NKJV unless otherwise noted)

Deuteronomy 6:4

"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.

**The following is a section of notes from my Bible the directly relates to this verse.  I found it helpful and thought others might also.  Like I said, I use the Nelson NKJV Study Bible, and do not claim any of the following paragraph to be my own words.**

This passage is the basic confession of faith in Judaism and is called the Shemà.  Shemà is the Hebrew word for hear.  The verse starts with a command for the people to respond properly to God.  They must listen and obey.  The Lord our God indicates the people's relationship with the living God.  He had come into the lives of His people; it was not that they had ascended to Him.  He had saved them from slavery in Egypt, guided them through the wilderness, and given them His instructions.  Further, He was about to give them His land.  The Lord is One means "the Lord alone."  There is only one God.

(This is me speaking now. smile)  

As I talked about in my last post, God has been showing me that the most important thing is that I capital L, capital O, capital V, capital E Him with everything I have.  As simple as that.  But think about it.  What happens when you truly love someone?  I can't speak about romantic love because I haven't yet met the man God has for my life, but I can speak for brotherly and sisterly love in Christ.  When you love someone, you trust them completely.  You don't question them when they tell you they have a surprise for you and lead you blindfolded into a room.  You know that they have your best interest in mind.  You let go of any fears you have and open up your heart.  You let yourself be vulnerable because you know you are with someone you can trust.  Imagine your best friend on this earth.  They probably know everything about you.  You trust them, with everything you have.  (If you don't feel this way about your best friend, I would seriously and prayerfully consider what your relationship is founded on)

You wanna know something?  

God wants to be our Best Friend.  He desires to be the First person we turn to when something happens in our lives, no matter what it is.  He is our Heavenly Father, and he loves us more than we can imagine while still on this earth.  As it says in Duet. 6:4 "..You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength."  What does that truly mean?  It means that He is the first person you want to tell the exciting news to when you get an A on your final in that really hard class.  It means that He is the first person you cry to when you hear about the death of a friend.  He's the first person you want to text when you're just having a bad day.  God desires a relationship with us more than anything else.  Jesus said in Matthew 22:37,38

          "...'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment..."

Jesus was quoting Duet. 6:4 here, and He clearly states that it is the first and greatest commandment.  God desires for us to love Him.  I have found these last few months that truly loving God is the hardest thing I could ever do.  Because truly loving God means that I give Him my whole heart.  It means that I don't hold anything back or keep secrets.  (He's the God of the Universe, so I couldn't keep secrets from Him, even if I tried.)  Loving God with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my mind means that I don't linger or care about the things of this world.  It means that God has to be my Everything.  And it's scary.  I fail.  Every. Single. Day.  But God is using my failures to teach me.  I can see myself growing, if only a tenth of a centimeter each day growing closer to Him.  This journey is not easy.  But then again, no one ever promised it would be.  

So for now, I'm going to be daily seeking God as much as I can.  While standing in line at the cafeteria, while reading the next selected work for my poetry class, while surfing facebook.  I believe God has called me to Himself.  To grow closer to Him and to love Him above all else.  

A song comes to mind tonight.  It's called By Your Side by Tenth Avenue North.  Think about checking it out.  God bless, and I pray that you would seek to grow closer to God's heart this week.  Don't be afraid to open your Bible and read.  I suggest praying, reading, and thanking God.  I'm no authority whatsoever.  Be yourself, and see what He shows you.