Mark 12:28-30
28 And 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?
29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
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.
Thou shalt love the Lord they God with all thy heart.
How would you define the heart?
According to Funk & Wagnall’s dictionary the definition of heart is;
1. The central or inner most part of anything.
2. The seat of emotion.
3. The primary organ of the circulatory system.
When speak of the heart of anything we are generally speaking of the innermost part or the core and in most cases the strongest part of it. Take a tree for instance; the heart (the innermost core, the structural support) is actually hardest and strongest part of the tree. Even though the heart of the tree is the strongest part, it can be affected by disease and decay, just as the outer part.
Blight is a destructive plant disease that can infect any plant, even trees. Infected trees exhibit a blackening of the blooms, leaves and twigs, and the whole tree is eventually involved. The blight causes the tree to decay outwardly and the decay can eat all the way to the heart of then tree if left unchecked. This decay of the heart of the tree can eventually cause the death and destruction of the tree. When the disease gets to this point all it takes is a slight resistance against the tree and it is toppled.
Just like the blight that infects the tree---sin can start eating away at a person and if lift unchecked it can cause spiritual and moral decay and eat to the very heart of a person. Well Bro. Mike, I do all that I can to protect my heart---I try to be a good person. I read the Bible occasionally;
I come to church when it is convenient, when I don’t have anything else to do. I pray when I am having a problem. God knows my heart; He knows I would do these things if only I could but you don’t understand what I am going through. Maybe I don’t understand the things you are going through, but I do understand one thing, that you need God more than you need your next breath, I understand that you must stop running from God and run to Him, because if you don’t run to Him sin will catch up to you.
Once that sin catches up to you and reaches the heart it will be manifested outwardly from the heart and will be known by all. Matthew 15:19-20 reads For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man
These are the signs that moral and spiritual decay have taken place.
Now listen to what the Psalmist David wrote in Psalms 119:10-11 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
In these verses David tells us how we can stop the blight of sin that eats away at man keep God’s commandments and hide His word in our hearts.
Love the Lord thy God with all thy soul.
Soul is defined as the rational, emotional and volitional faculties in a man conceived as forming an entity distinct from the body.
Entity is defined as anything that has a real existence.
Gen. 2:7 tells us that the soul lives; And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Love the Lord with all thy mind.
Mind is defined as the aggregate (total) processes originating or associating with the brain involving conscious and subconscious thoughts, interpretation of perception, insight and imagination.
When you love the Lord your God with all your heart you will want to stay in His word Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
When we stay in His word He will give us the intellectual power, or capacity to understand and retain His word.
Love the Lord thy God with all thy strength.
Strength is defined as then source of power to resist and endure.
Muscle Power and moral power.
The human body is made up of voluntary and involuntary muscles. Voluntary muscles are muscle we move consciously. Involuntary muscles are muscles that we move unconsciously. Just like the action of the involuntary muscles when we are saved, attending the Lord’s house and worshipping should be second nature. Luke 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
It is true that after we are saved attending church should be customary to us, but unfortunately all too often that is not the way it is. We have been given the power to resist temptation and to endure in our Christian walk but that is not always what we do.
When we love the Lord with all our strength, He will give us the want and need to worship Him and with that the ability to know right from wrong.
How can we love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength?
I think Paul knew the answer to that question; Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
This is the beginning of a new year, a year when hopefully more people will make a commitment to God. Let this be your New Year resolution to God. May you make the decision today to make yourself a living sacrifice to a living God so that you may love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind.
