Daily Devotional For Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Like horses out of the gate, your week is off and running. Today is Tuesday and your plate and schedule could possibly be so full that you already feel stressed. Most people love new. New house. New car. New clothes. Most people love fresh. Fresh lettuce. Fresh and hot doughnuts. And if you have no idea of where to buy something new or fresh, I am sure that there are plenty of people who are glad to share their opinions with you. 

The only problem with the personal opinions of others is that many times it is hard to say if they are right or wrong because they are based on personal tastes and personal preferences. Take for example the Cola battle. Some say Coca-Cola is best while others say Pepsi is best. Take cars for example. Some prefer Fords and some prefer Chevrolets. Some prefer Hondas and some prefer Toyotas. It is not so much a right or wrong but personal preference. Some prefer all-electrics. Some prefer hybrids and some prefer gas or diesel. Again, it is personal preference and not an issue of right or wrong.

BUT there are issues that are clearly right or wrong because God’s Word, the Bible, gives us a clear answer on this. Is it right to honor your parents? Yes. Is it right to commit adultery? NO! Is it right to protect children from abuse? Yes! Is it right to steal or lie? No. Is it okay to use profanity and/or foul crude language? No. Where God is clear in His Word, we must never make allowances for personal opinions. 

God in His Word gives us answers to many of life’s questions. Where the Bible is silent or does not give us an answer, then the Bible does tell us what we are to do. In Matthew 22:37-40, “Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ (38) This is the first and greatest commandment. (39) A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (40) The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments” (NLT).

The religious leaders and Jews had 613 laws. Jesus did not mince words here. He went for the jugular. Jesus said all 613 laws could be summarized in these two commandments. In fact, Jesus said the entire Old Testament could be summarized in these two commandments. In this first commandment, Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:4-9, which is called “The Shema.” The first Hebrew word in verse 4 is the Hebrew word [שָׁמַע , shema], which begins with the word “Hear” or “Listen.” 

This was considered the foundational creed in Judaism. It was the most memorized and most quoted passage for Jews. Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll writes this:

Note that Jesus didn’t couch His response in carefully crafted qualifications. He didn’t have to deliberate, didn’t have to ponder, didn’t have to wrack His brain evaluating each of the 613 commandments in the Law and weighing each one. Jesus gave a straightforward, immediate, and unequivocal answer to the scholar’s question. But He didn’t stop there. He also added the second most important command, quoting Leviticus 19:18: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39). Jesus thus placed the vertical love of God and the horizontal love of fellow men and women as the foundation and structure of the entire Law (22:40) – (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary, “Matthew 16-28,” p. 183).

I really like what New Testament scholar Bruce Barton writes:

“Jesus used “heart,” “soul,” and “mind” to express the dimensions of our love for God. The terms should be taken together to mean, “Love God with your whole being.” In life they cannot be completely isolated (such as, “I will love God today with all my heart while my soul and mind are otherwise occupied”). Heart, soul, and mind function in harmony in our love for God.

Take each of these components and meditate on how to express your love. “Heart” refers primarily to our emotional response. When we think about love, we usually stop with emotions. The helpful roles of “soul” and “mind” become clear when our emotions (or heart) fail us. What do we do with the command to love God if we don’t feel like it? “Soul” includes the willful, decision-making part of us. Loving God with our soul covers those times when we love God apart from our feelings, such as when we truly forgive another while part of us feels like exacting revenge on that person.

“Mind” refers to an active component of our love for God. In a world where faith is often described as characteristic of people who don’t think, Jesus’ words point to the importance of engaging our mind as a central aspect of what we believe. Of course, loving God with our mind covers much more than the practice of thinking about God. If we place our mind into service for God, it will enjoy its greatest usefulness. Identify what area of your whole love for God needs special attention, and make it a point to involve that part of yourself in loving God.”

Faith is both freedom and responsibility. In Christ, we are freed from the religious rules and duties that frustrate and consume religious people around the world. At the same time, we are morally responsible to love others.

• Clear biblical rules are part of God’s plan for your success in life, but the application of those rules should always consider the supreme need to exhibit our faith in loving ways. 

• When you face a decision not so clearly covered by biblical rules (or where rules conflict), let love set a priority. 
• If you have a choice between exhibiting faith as a strict rule keeper (straight as an arrow, regimented, unbending) or as someone who loves a lot (sometimes flexible, sometimes firm), better to err on the side of love than on the side of rule keeping. To love a lot, in Jesus’ view, is to obey God by reflecting his care for people—his character at its very heart” ((Source: Bruce Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary, “Matthew,” pp. 442-443).

Questions To Consider

1. When it comes to obeying God’s commands, do you obey them humbly or do you sometimes let your own personal preference make the decision? Why?
2. Jesus did not come to give us more rules, regulations and rituals to follow. He came to establish a relationship with us based on love. What would you say is the most challenging or difficult aspect with this kind of relationship and why?
3. Jesus commanded us to love God with our whole being. We cannot love God today with just our heart and not our soul or mind? Why? 
4. What does it mean to you to love your neighbor as yourself and why?
5. 1 John 5:3 below says that God’s commandments are not burdensome. How would you explain to someone that they are not burdensome and why?

Scripture To Meditate On: 1 John 5:2-5, “We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey His commandments. (3) Loving God means keeping His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. (4) For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. (5) And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God” (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, forgive me when I pick and choose which of Your commandments I will obey. Forgive me when I do not love You with all my heart, soul and mind. Please forgive me when I do not love others to the degree that I love myself. The best proof I love You is that I love others. Help me to love You with all my emotions, with all my will and with all my intellect. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly