AFFECTION MAKES FOR EFFECTIVENESS
Tuesday, October 14, 2013
Deuteronomy
6:5-9 … you shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your might. 6 And these words which I command you this day
shall be in your heart. 7 And you shall carefully teach them to your sons, and
shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and
when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 And you shall bind them for a sign
upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 And you
shall write them upon the posts of your house, and on your gates. [Jn.14:15;
1Jn.5:2-3]
Matthew 22:23-40 On that day the
Sadducees came to Him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked
Him, 24 saying, Master, Moses said, If a man dies, having no children, his
brother shall marry his wife and raise up seed to his brother. 25 Now there
were with us seven brothers. And the first, when he had married a wife, died.
And, having no issue, he left his wife to his brother. 26 The second also did
likewise, and the third, to the seventh. 27 And last of all the woman also
died. 28 Therefore in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be, of the seven?
For they all had her. 29 Jesus answered and said to them, You err, not knowing
the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither
marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in Heaven. 31 But
regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken
to you by God, saying, 32 "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob?" God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
33 And when the crowd heard this, they were astonished at His doctrine. 34 But
hearing that He had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees were gathered
together. 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked, tempting Him and saying, 36 Master,
which is the great commandment in the Law? 37 Jesus 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 first and great commandment. 39 And the second is
like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments
hang all the Law and the Prophets.
As His John 1:12
children we are to love the Lord above all others. “love the Lord” is in 17
verses, 14 in OT, 3 in NT, beginning with Deuteronomy 6:5 and lastly recorded
from the lips of Jesus in Luke 10:27. (Deut.6:5; 11:1, 13, 22; 13:3; 19:9; 30:6, 16, 20: Jos.23:11;
Ps.31:23; 97:10; 116:1; Mt.22:37; Mk.12:30; Lk.10:27)
We may tend to
think this commandment and request is wholly restrictive because of God’s
jealousy. (Ex.20:5; 34:14; Deut.4:24; 5:9; 6:15; Jos.24:19; Joel 2:18; Nah.1:2;
Zec.1:14; 8:2; Jam.4:4-5) But it is not. It is beneficial.
Only as we live
in deep affection for God can we live an effective life:
·
Let us understand and accept that in serving the
Lord we indeed do take His burden upon us, but it is not a grievous burden.
(Mt.11:29; Jam.4:5)
·
Agreeably taking Jesus’ yoke of loving the
Father and others we leave our burdensome yoke of self by the wayside, and gain
rest. (Heb.4:3; Jam.4:5) (We need to stop thinking escaping from the rigors of
life is true rest. It is not. God’s rest is to be daily currently realized and
practiced where we stand and walk.)
·
Loving the Lord as He commands and leads we live
by and thereby in His present and eternal portion. (Deut.30:6, 16; Ps.31:23;
Heb.11:6)
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