Mr 12:28And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
Mr 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
Mr 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Mr 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Mr 12:32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
Mr 12:33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
Mr 12:34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
Loving God with our whole body
Brian LaCroix - Jesus had just [finished] answering his critics, one after another. They had been trying to get him to say something in order for him to trap himself. It hadn’t worked before that, and it doesn’t work this time.
One of these fellers had been watching and listening to the exchange, and finally comes to Jesus with his own question, a question that goes to the very heart of what the Bible teaches about God and how we’re to relate to Him.
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
Allan McCann - Jesus is at the centre of a series of disputes within the Temple precincts. This is one of many questions that he had faced. One of the teachers of the Law steps forward and asks a question: ‘What is the greatest of all the commandments?’ You see the rabbis had added up all the Laws and come to the conclusion that God had given the people 613 commandments to obey. His question is ‘which of these 613 is the most important?’ In his reply Jesus joins two commandments together. The first one is found in Deuteronomy 6.4-5 – the Shema, which every Hebrew child was taught from earliest childhood. This is an uncontroversial reply. However Jesus adds a second commandment to this from Leviticus 19.18 and concludes ‘there is no greater commandment than these.’
A.W. Tozer says about worship:
"We are called to an everlasting preoccupation with God!" He defines worship like this...
A throne-ward gaze of the soul upon a holy God!
Jerry Vargo – True worship involves the whole person…heart, soul, strength, and mind.
1. Heart = Emotions (Feelings/Passions)
2. Soul = Existence (Life/Way of Life)
3. Strength = Vigor (All your might, force, or power)
4. Mind = Intellect (Decisions/Brainpower/Mentality)
1. with all your heart
a. Alan McCain - According to medical statistics ‘heart disease’ is the biggest killer in Northern Ireland. Physically we cannot live without our hearts. Emotionally our hearts are important and according to the answer Jesus gave to the ‘teachers’ question in Mark 12 are hearts are important, nay vital, in our commitment to God our Father.
b. Mt 22:37 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.
c. ACC - 1. He loves God with all his heart, who loves nothing in comparison of him, and nothing but in reference to him:-who is ready to give up, do, or suffer any thing in order to please and glorify him:-who has in his heart neither love nor hatred, hope nor fear, inclination, nor aversion, desire, nor delight, but as they relate to God, and are regulated by him.
2. with all your soul
a. vs. 33… with all the strength, this includes all your strengths and abilities. Serve God with all you have in you.
b. Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian revolutionary who led an incredibly committed, yet tiny, volunteer army against the Bourbon regime at Marsala harbor on May 11, 1860. In recruiting men to fight with him he would make this appeal: “I offer neither pay, nor quarters, nor provisions; I offer hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles and death. Let him who loves his country with his heart and not with his lips only, follow me!”
c. ACC - with all his life, who is ready to give up life for his sake-to endure all sorts of torments, and to be deprived of all kinds of comforts, rather than dishonour God:-who employs life with all its comforts, and conveniences, to glorify God in, by, and through all:-to whom life and death are nothing, but as they come from and lead to God, From this Divine principle sprang the blood of the martyrs, which became the seed of the Church. They overcame through the blood of the Lamb, and loved not their lives unto the death.
d. Re 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
3. with all your mind
a. (intellect) who applies himself only to know God, and his holy will:-who receives with submission, gratitude, and pleasure, the sacred truths which God has revealed to man:-who studies no art nor science but as far as it is necessary for the service of God, and uses it at all times to promote his glory-who forms no projects nor designs but in reference to God and the interests of mankind:-who banishes from his understanding and memory every useless, foolish, and dangerous thought, together with every idea which has any tendency to defile his soul, or turn it for a moment from the centre of eternal repose. In a word, he who sees God in all things-thinks of him at all times-having his mind continually fixed upon God, acknowledging him in all his ways-who begins, continues, and ends all his thoughts, words, and works, to the glory of his name:-this is the person who loves God with all his heart, life, strength, and intellect.
Living for Christ is not just a passing thing or just a one day a week thing. It take committing all we have, all we are, and our whole being.
Fred Elliot –
A. Real commitment is not part time - Not on a switch - not on again off again
B. Real commitment is not a Sunday thing.
1. 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year --- no vacations or off days
(a) Nothing is more important to you than your first commitment
(b) Your first commitment is your first priority
2. The same person on Monday through Saturday as you are on Sunday
(a) Commitment isn’t something you put on and take off like a suit
3. If we are really committed to God --- It will show
(a) Do others see a real commitment to God in you
Mr. LaCroix goes on to say, “You can’t earn your way to heaven - no amount of good works gets you there. No amount of charity gets you there. No amount of religion gets you there. Being baptized doesn’t get you there. Taking communion doesn’t get you there. Being a church-goer doesn’t get you there. Being a pastor sure doesn’t get you there.
"God is looking for worshippers. And if the religious elite are too proud or too busy to learn to worship him, he seeks the worship of those whose lives are trapped in moral ruin."
Erwin W. Lutzer
"I can safely say, on the authority of the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored or turned off by worship, is not ready for heaven."
A. W. Tozer
