SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/11/2023 8:56 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-7 “The Response of the Lord”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matt. 22:37-40
Message of the verses: “37 Jesus said to
him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your
soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 “This is the first and great
commandment. 39 “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.’ 40 “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the
Prophets.’”
We have come to the end of this section that we
began on the fifth of September, and one thing I do want to mention and that is
that this will be a very short SD. I
have to say that this is a very important section of Scripture as this section
has a lot of important talk about love, a subject that is most important in the
Scriptures.
As
we look at the basic requirements of both Judaism and of Christianly in
reference to this section we can say that what we find in this section sums up
in the dame dual command: to love God
and to love one’s fellow man. On these
two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets” said Jesus. Everything else in the Old Testament that God
required of believers hung on these two commands. I think as one looks at the
Ten Commandments that God gave to Israel while they were at Mt. Sinai, actually
gave to Moses to give to the children of Israel.
I
like the way that this puts the Ten Commandments as the first four have to do
with God and then the last six have to do with man. Now as we think of them like this and then
think about what the Lord said in our verses about the two greatest commands,
loving God fits into the first four commandments and loving man fits into the
last six commands. So out of the
commands that the Lord has quoted here in our passage we can say that the Ten
Commandments flow out of them. I have
also mentioned before that I believe that the cross also can be seen in these
two commands as the vertical part of the cross pictures loving God and God
loving us and the horizontal speaks of loving our neighbors.
MacArthur
writes “Everything else in the Old Testament that God required of believers
hung on those two commands. Likewise,
every New Testament requirement of believers is based on them. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love
is from God,” John declares; “and everyone who loves is born of God and knows
God. The one who does not love does not
know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8).
“He who loves his neighbor,” Paul says, “has fulfilled the law For this,
‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You
shall not coven,’ and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in
this saying, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to
a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom. 13:8-10).”
The truth is that if people loved like we are
learning about love then there would be no need of law. The reason is because the person who loves
others will never do them harm. In the
same way, the believer who loves God with all of his being will never take His
name in vain, will never worship idols, and will never fail to obey, worship,
honor, and glorify Him as Lord.
MacArthur
writes the following in conclusion to this section: “The lawyer was favorably, and not doubt surprisingly
impressed by Jesus’ answer. ‘Right,
teacher,’ he said; ‘You have truly stated that…to love Him with all the heart
and with all the understanding and with
all the strength, and to love ones neighbor as himself, is much more than all
burnt offerings and sacrifices.’ And when Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently,
He said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God’” (Mark 12:32-34).”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Realizing and wanting to realize more the
importance of love.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To love God
and to love my neighbor.
9/11/2023 9:30 AM
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