On the same day of the moon sighting, I had talked to my students about the two commands that God gives us in the Old Testament, both of which, are referred to in the New Testament {where we are currently}.
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"25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him {Jesus} to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him,“What is written in the Law {or, the Torah - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy: the Law}? How do you read it?”
27 And he answered {meaning, the man quoted Scripture}, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”" - Luke 10:25-28
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Obviously, the man whom Jesus was speaking to was not dead physically. But, spiritually and emotionally, he was among the deceased.
And, feeling that my class and I could talk more on this subject, I continued the topic yesterday.
We talked about how loving God fully is difficult, about what it looks like to just love with one of the four things {or combination of the four}, and how it only comes to completion when you engage all four: heart, mind, soul, and strength.
I can love God with all of my heart, but if my thoughts, my soul, and my strength do not reflect that love, it is useless.
I can put my strength to use in God's name, but if I don't have my heart, mind, and soul finding joy in these things... it is useless.
The list goes on... I'm not doing one thing or the other striving to get recognition. It should be an outward view on what is happening inward. Living life on earth with an eternal focus. Brilliant life.
Last night, I opened my Bible, and it had opened to Deuteronomy {I was intending to continue to read in Exodus}.
Deuteronomy 6:5 to be exact. Underlined, the lines of Scripture commanded my attention, and what should they say but:
"4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
Wow.
This just causes me to think stronger on these things.
How do you show that you love someone with all of your heart?
With all of your mind?
With all of your soul?
With all of your strength?
How am I using all of these things... to love my Lord, my Savior?
I know I have a ways to go, but I'm praying for perseverance. I'm praying that I would not become distracted by things of this world. That I would not become distracted with the desire to wed. Or, with the desire to have something I don't have currently.
I'm praying for wisdom. I'm praying that the love I have for God would always be on my lips. That I could boldly proclaim the love and free life that God gives. That I would dance the joyful dance of freedom... because that is what I have. That is the promise God declares.
And wow, it's wonderful. Why, oh why, would I ever want something that I perceive as greater?! Is this not the greatest gift of all??
Why, yes. I believe that it is.
Praying that I always rest on this knowledge. That I am a daughter of the Prince of Peace. I have been adopted into His family of saints. How wretched I am, but God delights in me.
Praying that I am always listening to God's voice so that I can always know what He is telling me.
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