Scripture:
Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning
together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him,
"Which is the first commandment of all?" Jesus answered
him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the
Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with
all your strength.' This is the first commandment. And the second,
like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There
is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:28-30
Reflection:
We tend to complicate the Christian life at times. Sure, certain
rules must be in place to help us stay on the right path. Certain
polices must be adopted for a church to run with some sense of order.
But when we forget (in the words of Stephen Covey) that the main
thing is to keep the Main Thing the main thing, we are missing the
real heartbeat of the Christian life. What is the main thing? Or, as
the scribe asked Jesus, "What is the first (or, main)
commandment?" To put Jesus' answer is the simplest terms, it is
to simply "love God and love people." If we can do that,
all the complexities of the Christian life seem to fall somewhere
near the bottom of the priority list and life, in general, makes more
sense.
Prayer:
Lord, you made it so simple. But why does it have to be so hard?
Loving you should be the easiest thing in the world and love for
others should just flow freely from that love for you. But when we
seek our wills before yours, things get out of focus, we get
distracted, we wander from the main road. Bring us back, Lord, to
where we should be ... loving you and loving others. Amen.
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