Matthew 22: 37: "Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind..'" The words in italics are a quote from the Old Testament, specifically Deuteronomy 6: 5, part of the shema. The shema is spoken daily by Jews. The verse for today was the Lord Jesus' answer to the question posed by the hypocritical Pharisees. They wanted to know what Jesus thought was the greatest commandment in the Law. This was a rabbinical exercise to see who could summarize the Law in the fewest words. The verse tells us to involve our heart (personality, emotions and will), soul (Hebrew nephesh means "breath of life'') and mind (seat of intellect). Don't look for three separate circles as all three of these categories overlap. The point is that we are to love Him with our entire being. I know people who think they love God with all their heart, soul and mind continually without a break. I don't believe them. I don't think we love God the way He should be loved for an hour. The more we appreciate how Holy and Righteous our God is, the more we see how unholy we are. I would rather be in a state of humility merely clinging to the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ than to believe that I had obtained some state by my efforts. I'll take the Lord Jesus Christ.
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