As we move into this year…
It’s amazing that all the rules for good living are being promoted. 5 rules for this, 10 rules for that. Success comes from following these 3 simple rules…
You know. Everyone has a rule. A list. A formula. An algorithm. But without God at your center, then your success is only accidental and is suspect to is value to eternity.
God tells Joshua to keep the Law of God in his heart (Joshua 1:8). This is foundation. Without having the rules by which you live by then you are lost without guidelines. But Jesus takes a slightly different tack with that lawyer who asked him an important question:
Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 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 22:36-40 KJV).
Two commandments that are essentially the same. Love. Love God. Love others. Everything else hangs on these two commandments.
Two rules. Loving God… Loving others.
Luke records a similar instance the same, except the question was how to inherit eternal life. The answer was basically what Jesus quoted above. (Luke 10:25-28) The lawyer agrees that this is what he does, but then wants to understand better, “Who is my neighbor?”
The Amplified Bible translate this as:
And he, determined to acquit himself of reproach, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor? (Luke 10:29 AMP)
Can you clarify who my neighbor is? I want to make sure I understand it correctly. Let’s make sure I have a way out….
So Jesus teaches about the man hurt on the road to Jericho…. And this I’ll touch another day… Your “neighbor” might really surprise you. Why do you get to chose who you will love? Especially since God loves everyone