Loving God with all your heart

Mark 12:30 - Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

In response to a teacher of the law, who asked Jesus, what is the greatest commandment, Jesus gave the above answer.

In addition Jesus gave the second greatest commandment, which is to  ‘Love your neighbour as yourself". 

The teacher of the law acknowledged the master's answer and Jesus replied - “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” 

We can know all about the law, all about the commandments but we found wanting in following them. "Not far but certainly Not In"

The Torah has 616 commandments in total and of them all, two stand out.

What does it mean to love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

St. Richard of Chichester (1197–1253) summaries it in the following prayer -  “Thanks be to thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits which thou hast given us; for all the pains and insults which thou hast borne for us. O most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother, may we know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly; for thine own sake.”

To know God more clearly.  If you notice in Paul's letters, his deepest desire is that the churches will develop a deepest desire to grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. That means we enter into an intimate personal relationship with God. This can only be developed through the disciplines of prayer, Scripture, and worship. There is no other short cut. Any other formula or innovation are merely a mirage, a lot of activity but hardly any spiritual inspiration. And in the process of knowing God, the spontaneous reflex will be to obey this Word. The mere knowledge of embracing the supremacy of the triune God will cajole anyone to bow in worship and obedience. If that has not been the case, our intimacy with God is a big question.

Love God dearly.  King David reflected his love for God in the following manner:

  • Psalm 20:7 - One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.

To love God is to desire Him, to yearn for His righteousness, His Word, and His grace. To love God is to put him as our priority in all that we do. His will becomes our will and not the other way round. His ways become mine. God becomes my desire:

  • Psalms 42:1 - As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.

Follow God wholeheartedly.  In life's journey there will be many situations where we may be asked to compromise our faith. But to love God with all our hearts means to be totally devoted to Him and follow the Lord at any cost. Jesus said that if we love Him, we will keep His commands. 

Following Jesus is not simply wearing a cross around our necks. Jesus said:

Matthew 24:16 - If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

When Jesus made this statement, His listeners knew very well what He meant. In those days the cross was a symbol of death by crucifixion. It was the most excruciating and torturing way to die. Taking up my cross means, I am willing to die for Christ. It calls for sacrifice for the sake of the gospel. Has following Christ cost us anything? Have we given enough that would count as a sacrifice. Have I done anything worthy that will show myself carrying my cross and following Him? Not for exhibition but for self examniation.

Love God with all our hearts.


Inspired by Kenneth Boa's Conformed to His Image.




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