"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
Deuteronomy 6:5 (NRSV)
Prodigal Thoughts: I’ve heard several explanations of this scripture, but in diving in a little bit to see what I could find for you all, I found one commentary (Barnes) reveals that in this context, ‘the heart reflects one’s understanding, the soul as the center of one’s will and personality, and "might" represents one’s actions and expenditures of energy.’ So, we are to love God with all of our understanding, our will (intentions, etc), and all that we do. To me, this insight makes this verse much more of a life-consuming concept. But also, consider this. In applying this concept to our daily lives, this follows the process of how we learn and how we internalize and validate information. From perception of God’s truth, to embodying that truth and allowing it to affect our thinking and how we react, and finally to our actions and how we live out this truth. This is a life-altering love, folks. But it isn’t something that we just receive. It is reciprocal. We are to love God as much as we are able to and that love is to also be shared with those around us. What if we loved others like that? I was reminded by my lovely wife last night that "we will never look into the eyes of someone that God doesn’t love unconditionally."
Prayer for today: Today, I pray that we would not only welcome and accept God’s unconditional love for us, but that we would love Him the best we know how. That we would constantly dig into the depth of the knowledge of God so that we are made more mature, not lacking anything. I pray that God would love others through us out of the overflow of unconditional love we receive.
Before I sign off for today, I have two prayer requests. This week, I have found out that one of my best friends (D.B) and one of my cousins (S.M.) have cancer. For D.B., this is a first-time diagnosis. For S.M., the cancer has returned. If you are a praying person, please pray for God’s healing for these two folks. God is able to turn the impossible to possible.
If you need prayer, please reply and I will pray for you. If you would like to talk about this verse or have questions, I’m always open for your feedback.
God’s grace on you…
Prodigal Thinker 