Good morning and welcome in everyone. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
One weekend when I was very young, I was able to take a trip to Duluth Minnesota, a destination that I had never seen before. I waited with great excitement to take a tour of some old sailing vessels that had been completely restored and were docked in the harbor. Although sailing is very interesting to me, something else completely dwarfed my attention that day. I was able to see the largest freshwater lake in the world, Lake Superior. This lake is over 31,000 square miles in size, and is approximately 1300 feet deep. No wonder why they call them the Great Lakes.
This reminds me of the Christian life.
When something is considered great, it is going to stand out as being more prominent than others in matters of importance, and position. God created these great lakes, but just as Lake Superior stands out above the rest, one of God’s commandments stands out above all the others, and is the greatest commandment of all.
Matthew 22:36-38 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.
Every day, there are certain things in each of our lives that are of greater importance than others. For example, rather than going to the hardware store after work, you might need to pick up your child at school instead. Rather than going to your friends for a sleep over over the weekend, you might choose to go fishing with your dad instead. Rather than spending a limited supply of cash on cookies, you might choose milk at the store instead. Many of the simple choices that we make each day will take precedence over others. Even when you make a to- do list, things that stand out in your mind as the most needful things, will cause you to place them at the very top, putting them in a certain order based upon their importance. Many people don’t even think about it, but God has done this very same thing. God has placed the commandments in order for a reason. The very first thing on our spiritual to-do list that God wants us to complete, is to focus our undivided love and attention completely upon Him, because if you truly love Him with a pure heart, everything else is going to follow suit. Love for the Lord is truly the first and great commandment, and everything else is subsequently linked to obedience to that commandment.
Many times, people will place an important event on their refrigerator door. It is a constant reminder to them every time that they go into the kitchen to grab some food. In the same way, the first commandment needs to be prominent each day in our minds. It must be the most important thing, so important that it comes before all others. If you were going to prepare a meal for supper, the most important thing to do before anything else, would be to wash the dirty pots and pans from the day before. If this isn’t done first, nothing else is going to happen. If we can love God perfectly and obey the first commandment, everything that is required in the Christian life will fall into place. Obedience will be motivated through a Spirit-filled love for God.
Vices that we thought impossible to overcome, can be defeated, out of love for Him.
Behavior that we felt was unchangeable, can be corrected, out of love for Him.
Victory over sin can be achieved, out of love for Him.
Many people will claim that they love others. Although love for others is a huge part of the Christian Life, our greatest love must be placed on God to attain salvation. If we love anything else just a little more, it can divert our hearts from perfect obedience to His will. Love for others is secondary in comparison to the first commandment.
Matthew 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
In the days of Noah people loved each other. They were getting married and being given in marriage, but the love between them was not enough to save them, because they all perished in the flood. This was because God was not their greatest love. Love for God was greater than anything else in the life of Noah. Noah loved God so much, that even when the whole world was against him, he stood alone upon the ark, continuing to preach God’s truth. When the floods finally came, God delivered him. It is only when God is our greatest love will we stand up for the truth, speak the truth, and live the truth.
We are required to love others, but never at the expense of obedience to the will of God. Solomon loved his wives too much, and it resulted in him burning incense to false gods. His love for them became greater than God, turning his heart away from perfect obedience to the Lord. God must be the most important relationship in our lives. He must be first in our hearts If we truly are going to fulfill His will. Many people will profess that they love God with their lips, but when all is said and done, genuine love for God will result in perfect obedience and submission to His commands. Obedience is the proof of our affection and love for God, who laid down His own life that we might live. Submission to God’s purpose is the evidence that you are keeping His great commandment.
John 14:15, 21, 23-24 If ye love me, keep my commandments. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
John 15:9-10 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
1 John 2:3-4 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Jesus loves the heavenly Father perfectly, and obeys Him in everything.
John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
The heart can lead a person astray when it is misplaced on others rather than on God. It can cause your faith to become subverted, when you choose to listen to others, rather than listening to God. The heart can lead you in the wrong direction, when you love them more than God. Our precious Lord deserves all of the love that we can possibly give Him. Our hearts for Him must lovingly glow like a burning lamp that can never be extinguished. Of all the commandments ever been given, the great commandment is the one that stands out above all others, just like Lake Superior and the rest of….
….. The Great Lakes
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
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