September 28, 2006

Matthew 22:37 And He said to him, ” `YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38. “This is the great and foremost commandment. 39. “The second is like it, `YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’  NASB

When Jesus was pressed for an answer as to which commandments were the most important, without hesitation He instructed us to first love God and second to love people. Jesus taught us that these two commandments were so important, that the entire “Law and the Prophets”, or, to say it more clearly, that all the precepts of God, depend upon these two commandments.

Jesus teaches us that the most important thing we can do is to Love God completely. But what does it mean to love God with all your heart, soul and mind? It simply means that nothing in your life should be more important to you than your relationship with the Lord. We should have a burning desire to serve Him, and a dedication to obeying His will so that we might please Him with our lives. We must continuously nurture our relationship with the Lord through prayer and meditating on His Word.

If we are obeying the first commandment that Jesus taught, we will also obey His second commandment to love others. People are the most important thing to God. Nothing else even comes to close. God did not send His Son to save a building, or a denomination, or even some of our “sacred” programs. No, Christ died to save people like you and I. Christ died on the cross so that every person who ever lived or lives upon this earth would have an opportunity to be saved and to have a living relationship with our Heavenly Father. Therefore, if we want our churches to have a ministry of impact and permanence we must build it into the lives of people. We must always remember that the church is not the building it is people. How well we treat people, and how well we establish them in the Christian faith will determine our success as a church.

Let us always be faithful in these three things: Loving God through Christ, loving each other in Christ, and loving the lost that Christ died to save.

May the Grace and Peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Floyd

© 2006 Floyd Steverson