Jesus said, the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with everything you’ve got, with everything that you are, with your entire being (all your heart, soul, mind and strength; Dt 6:5; Mt 2337; Mk 12:29-30). Here, the heart represents an individual’s will and desire (Ex 25:2; 1 Sa 13:4; Lk 6:45). The soul is our true self (our immortal being, while the body is merely a temporary shell (Mt 10:28 and NIV note). The mind encompasses our complete mental faculty: memory, perception, reasoning, opinions, views, disposition, and mood (m-w.com). And our strength is our power to resist, our attributes or inherent assets, our ability, energy, might, and vigor (m-w.com; 1 Co 10:13; 16:13; Isa 40:31). God wants it all!
It was necessary for Jesus to fulfill all that had been previously taught to Israel (the Law of the Prophets, which is the Old Testament in its entirety) by making clear its full meaning. To fulfill means to measure up to, convert into reality, and develop the full potentialities of (m-w.com). Jesus did this by emphasizing the deep underlying principles of the law and total commitment to it rather than mere external acknowledgement and obedience (NIV note on Mt 5:17).
It’s this commandment to love God with our all –along with the second greatest commandment- that the Law of the Prophets hangs on (Mt 22:40.) The love shown here, to the Lord our God, is primarily in view of the love shown by a subject to a king, because to truly love God is to be his loyal and obedient servant (NIV note on Dt 6:5). God, our king, requires complete devotion and honor. He commands us: not to put anything before him, not to form any idol(s), and not to misuse his name (Ex 20:3-7).
Our love for God will be evidenced by a life that’s characterized by service to him; the perfect example being the life lived by Jesus Christ. However, we are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices (Ro 12:1).
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