Wednesday, January 11th, 2006
A Study on Love – Edition #8
The three things:
- Is there a fact to believe here?
- Is there a promise to trust?
- Is there a command to obey?
Well, here it is… another day before me. My son is having so much fun right now, hitting and playing with his toys and making a ton of ruckus. I want to be right there with him playing. I meet with a friend today. I have been looking forward to getting back together with him. And last night, I was able to contact a friend from years ago… and that excites me to be able to get to chat with him. He was a great friend and I hurt him in ways that I can now understand. I just hope and pray that I can revive the friendship that I lost… I guess only time will tell. Onto the QT…
Deuteronomy 6:1-25
1 These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
10 When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
13 Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. 16 Do not test the LORD your God as you did at Massah. 17 Be sure to keep the commands of the LORD your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the LORD's sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers, 19 thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the LORD said.
20 In the future, when your son asks you, "What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the LORD our God has commanded you?" 21 tell him: "We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 Before our eyes the LORD sent miraculous signs and wonders—great and terrible—upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. 23 But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers. 24 The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. 25 And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness."
Now, Jesus is awesome… he speaks this and the one from Leviticus in Matthew 22:34-40… if I love God with everything I have, with all my being, and take that love to my neighbor, then all is good. And this is something I am trying to change in my character. It is so easy to simply love myself and my selfish wants. I guess that is the world of an addict… to be “me-focused” and not “he-focused.” I have grown in knowledge over the last few years… I have tried to apply that knowledge to my life and I have grown more and more weary within myself. Not to say that I am wise by any means, but the knowledge I have gained has become something of a burden… Solomon had gained knowledge and wisdom, and switched to other Gods, tried other things, and came back to God. He said that through it all, it was meaningless. It is said that knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. And if God is love, then that would mean God builds me up… and so the only thing that isn’t meaningless throughout all this is love. And that is what I need to chase after… because loving God is not a chasing after the wind.
Matthew 22:34-40
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Johnny Out.
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