Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. – Deuteronomy 6:5 (NIV)
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. – Deuteronomy 6:5 (KJV)
Theme: Priorities
Jesus himself called this verse the “first and greatest commandment” (see Matthew 22:37-38). Let’s take a look…
It helps to have a bit of context on the book of Deuteronomy. After wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, the people of Israel were getting ready to cross the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land. Moses (who wasn’t allowed to go with them, by the way) knew the land they would be entering was filled with people who worshipped false gods, so he summoned the Israelites together to make sure they understood God’s laws and expectations for His people.
Moses summoned all Israel and said: Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us…
– Deuteronomy 5:1-2 (NIV)
While he had God’s people together, Moses re-read the Ten Commandments to them and advised that they “be careful to observe them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you” (see Deuteronomy 6:3).
And that brings us to this week’s verse. In addition to following God’s commandments, Moses also urged the Israelites to love the one and only God with everything they have…
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.
And you shall love the LORD your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your strength.
– Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (NIV)
That’s God’s priority for us as well. He wants us to love Him with everything we have….our heart, our mind, our soul, our strength…every second of every day.
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