by Pastor Afolabi Oladele

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart. Deuteronomy 6:4-6

 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:37-40

And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question. Mark 12:28-34

Our texts outline the two directions of relationship viz.

• Thou shall love the Lord your God with all…; and
• Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself…

Dealing first with loving God, outlined to us and in a discernable hierarchy but conspicuously not visible is the immaterial part of man! What does this mean?

First these precepts speak to our duty to God and man. I am, as well as you are, required to love the Lord God with all our powers and faculties, and that nothing is to be preferred to Him; giving Him my utmost or greatest attention, devotion and attention. I treasure Him above all earthly relationships – Matthew 10:37-39 –  above all longings and possessions or belongings. The mind is the continuous reality of our lives. When the body sleeps, the mind is active dreaming through the night. Never meant to rule the heart, the mind must be taught and used to love the Lord affectionately. The teaching of the mind and it being subsumed in the mind of Christ are the object of Paul’s instructions in 1 Corinthians 2:11-16 (AMP) and 2 Corinthians 10:4-7a (AMP); the submission of intellect to the WORD and His command, yielding our faculties to His teaching and guidance while submitting the results of our heritage or intellectual attainments to Him (Philippians 3:3-10, 17-21 (AMP). Will you reflect on these things and see how you compare? Shalom.