A reminder for
today
Jesus answered, “The
first and most important one is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our
God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul (life), and with all your mind (thought, understanding),
and with all your strength.’ This is the second: ‘You shall
[unselfishly] love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31)
Jesus answered the question on the greatest commandment with
three things and then combined them into one as He said that there is no other
greater than this. He starts with the Lord your God is one Lord, meaning that
there is no other. Then He said that you must love the Lord with all your
heart, all you soul and all your mind and strength. Finally, He added that you
must love your neighbour (the person next to you in all situations) as you love
yourself.
If you look at this and you ask yourself if you truly apply
this in your life, what will your answer be? Many atheists use the argument
that Christianity is bad due to all the terrible things Christians do or have done
in the past. If we truly live out the heart of Jesus, do you think they would
have grounds for that argument? I listened to Pastor Mohammed, a muslim converted
to Christianity and now a pastor in Lebanon on his views of Christianity. His strongest
point came out when he said that he spreads the gospel with love. He said that
we cannot show Jesus if we do not truly love the person we are talking to. He says
that his success with his church are due the fact that they do all out of love
and people see that. He says that no other religion is build on love and it is
so important that we show the very heart of Jesus in what we do.
I think about all the race conflict we have here in South
Africa and all over the world. Every person is created in God’s image and who
are we to judge people on their past or their race or even their mistakes. How can
we call ourselves followers of Jesus when our hearts are cold and judgemental?
As we go into week 1 of our fast and our journey towards a
fully devoted life, we should stop at the word “love”. Love the Lord your God
and love your neighbour. If we can achieve this and show this to the world we
will surly see massive change and enormous impact on the lives of those we talk
to. It is all about the Lord and His glory, so let us seek to glorify Him in
all we do. Come with me as we begin to love people into heaven.
Lord, give us a pure and strong heart so that we will love unconditionally.
Let us show love and give love as we spread your gospel and continue to touch
people with the great news of the gospel. In Jesus name.
Have an awesome day dear friend of Jesus.
Cheers