INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• February, the month where love is in the air. Yesterday was Valentine’s Day; I hope you guy took care of your ladies!
• There are songs and poems written about love. Love is the focus of art; love is the subject of many movies, many of which are a terrible example by the way.
• The word love is used and abused on a daily basis. People fall in love, they fall out of love, and they sometimes simply fall.
• Love is the source of both romance and war.
• When I think of the word love, one of the words I think of is priorities.
• Here is why. When our priorities in life are jumbled up, or out of order, it is difficult if not impossible to give and receive pure love.
• Love is a verb; it is more than a feeling. In other words, just telling someone you love them is not love, true love is in the actions you take toward them.
• So one’s priorities in life will affect how they love and even if they can love.
• In the Bible the word used to denote the love God has for mankind is Agape. This is by far the most frequently used word. The word implies doing what is spiritually best for another person.
• 1 Corinthians 13 tries to paint a picture of how love manifests itself. Patent, kind, not jealous, acts properly, etc.…
• This where our life priorities come into play. If I love myself first and foremost, it will be hard to do what is best for you because all I care about is myself!
• This is why a person can abuse another person and still have the nerve to tell them how much they love the one they are abusing.
• It is because in their eyes, they love the person; when in truth, they really do not love the one they are abusing with God’s true love; they love them with a weird self-centered love that gives the word no justice.
• So today, we are going to look at where one’s priorities should reside so that one can offer and receive true love versus some warped semblance of love.
• Let us turn to Mark 12. WE will begin with verse 28-20
• SLIDE #2
• Mark 12:28–30 (HCSB) — 28 One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked Him, “Which command is the most important of all?” 29 “This is the most important,” Jesus answered: Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is One. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. Love God.
• I want to give a little context for what we are reading today. Jesus is being questioned the Pharisee’s, Sadducee’s, and the Herodian’s as they were seeking to trap with what He said.
• Well, it was not going to well for any of the groups as Jesus was administering a verbal beating to them.
• They were no match for Him; however, in the crowd was a Scribe. Some versions called this man a Lawyer, which would have been another name for a Scribe.
• This Scribe would have been skilled in the Law of Moses.
• It appears as though this Scribe was impressed enough by Jesus to give Him a fair hearing.
• Based on the context it appears as though this man was seeking an answer to a sincere question.
• So here is a man who is a professional when it comes to the Law of Moses, he is going to ask Jesus an important question.
• He asked Jesus, “Which command is the most important of all?”
• This is a good question because it goes right to the heart of God.
• God gave the Ten Commandments, in a sense the question is, WHAT IS AT THE CORE OF THE COMMANDS?
• If one does not grasp the underpinning of the Law, they will never understand Jesus or God.
• We will see God as simply a being whose sole purpose is to punish sin.
• What is the greatest command? In the Rabbinical Law there stood over 600 precepts, which sprung forth from the original ten!
• Can you imagine how difficult it would be to live up to 600 precepts?
• It would be very difficult, but really impossible to do that.
• So, here is what the religious leaders did. They weighted the precepts.
• Different schools of the day determined which precepts one needed to follow and which ones they could violate with impunity.
• Within the various schools some emphasized the laws which commanded sacrifice, others laws of purification, ad stills others said the laws concerning the feasts were the most important.
• I think I would roll with the laws concerning the feasts being important! ☺
• So this question was important fort he day, and it is still an important question today.
• The way we could put it would be, WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT IN LIFE?
• The Scribe’s question is really an issue of priorities. The people were being told which laws they needed to keep, which laws they could ignore, and lost in translation was WHAT IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE?
• We still fight that battle today. What is most important? Making a living, building an empire, being entertained, living for self, or you can fill in the blank.
• The Scribe wanted to know what God wanted him to sell his life out to.
• SO what does Jesus say?
• 29 “This is the most important,” Jesus answered: Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is One. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
• Jesus begins His answer by reminding the people as to WHY He is giving the answer He gives.
• The Lord God is ONE. He is supreme and is worthy of what Jesus is about to say.
• Now I wonder if the scribe was somewhat surprised by Jesus’ answer. Jesus pulls a verse fro Deuteronomy 6:4-5 for His answer, not from the Ten Commandments.
• As Jesus gives the answer, this fits in our understanding of love, because love requires a FULL commitment, a complete sell-out to the one you love.
• Ladies, do you want a man who is SORT of committed to you, or do you want a man who is sold-out to you! Same with the gentlemen.
• Jesus said in direct answer to the question, 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength
• Does this sound like a partial commitment to God? Does this sound like God should be anywhere but first on our priority list?
• We are to love God with ALL our heart!
• ALL our SOUL. We should be willing to give our life TO God and give it up FOR God if called to do so. Many of our brave soldiers gave their life to the country and sacrificed if for their country.
• We are to love God with ALL our MIND! WE must be willing to submit all our faculties to His teaching and guidance; we are to devote all our intellectual capabilities for His glory.
• SLIDE #4
• Proverbs 3:5–6 (HCSB) — 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; 6 think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.
• We are to love Him with all our STRENGTH! WE are to give Him a full effort, we are to leave it all on the field for Him!
• Here is a key, all correct thought and action is dependent on correct knowledge concerning God. This command is the foundation of the entire law of God, all things flow through it.
• If we are able to love God FIRST, then everything we do will flow from that context. Too many times we love self more than God, we will love God in word, and in many deeds; however, when it comes to putting Him first we all struggle with that endeavor.
• WE cannot put God first and then serve Him when we feel like it. By the way, your love is not limited like a bank account; love can grow to an endless amount!
• So with this thought in hand, we will look at our next priority.
• SLIDE #5
• Mark 12:31 (HCSB) — 31 “The second is: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”
• Next we see…
• SLIDE #6
II. Love others.
• Jesus not only answers the question, but Jesus gives a bonus answer!
• He quotes Leviticus 19:18.
• Why? Why did Jesus add in verse 31? If we to love God as much as Jesus said, why is there more to say?
• This is why.
• Jesus wanted to give an example of how we can carry out the GREATEST COMMAND.
• HOW DO WE KNOW IF WE ARE CLOSE TO CARRYING OUT THE COMMAND?
• God wants our love for Him to manifest itself in the way we love others!
• Love of self is usually pretty strong for all of us.
• WE start out life selfish, feed me, change me, hold me, and that is mine!
• We are taught to share and put other people first. If we are not careful we can revert back to being selfish.
• The love of self is deep and sincere.
• Think of a marriage. A successful and joyful marriage will happen when each spouse loves the other more than they love self.
• That is a sight to behold!
• If God is first in my life I learn that life is not all about me, giving me the ability, after putting God first, to put others ahead of myself.
• If you put yourself first, everything will be about you and you will never be happy with what you have, whom you have, nor will you be happy with yourself.
• Jesus said in verse 31, “There is no other command greater than these.”
• Why? Because these who command will line us up with the heart of God, which in turn, will allow us to follow through with our last observation.
• SLIDE #7
III. Love life.
• I am not going to read all of the rest of the passage, except verse 34.
• SLIDE #8
• Mark 12:34 (HCSB) When Jesus saw that he answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to question Him any longer.
• The Scribe is in hearty agreement with Jesus’ answer. Jesus tells the Scribe that he is close to the kingdom of God.
• In other words, Scribe, you are starting to get it!
• When our life’s priorities are lined up correctly, we can then love life. WE can live life with no regrets; we can enjoy knowing we have a purpose to life.
• People fall short when they think life is about them. It is all about what I want, what I do, and who I am.
• That my friends will be a lonely miserable existence, and in the end you gain nothing, no matter what you think you have in this life.
• When one is living life fulfilling their purpose, life has a joy like never before. Life always will have its struggles; however, knowing you are doing what you were made to do will bring joy like never before.
• I hope as a Christian that is your experience. If it is not, maybe it is time to examine your priorities.
CONCLUSION
• If Jesus is not your Lord and Savior, you are not in line with why you were created.
• Don’t you think it is time to start doing what you were skillfully created to do?
• Love God, love others, then you can love life!
