October 20, 1999
FAMILY BIBLE SERIES:
Love God with all your
heart, soul & strength
___Deuteronomy 6:1-9, 20-24
___By Susan Pigott
___Logsdon School of Theology, Abilene
___If you were asked what your most important responsibility as a believer is, what would you reply? Some of us would probably say "prayer." Others would immediately say "evangelism." Still others would suggest "going to church" or "tithing." But did you know that none of these responses is ultimately correct? Surprised? Read on.
___The Old Testament contains a succinct confession of faith known to Jews as the Shema (Deut. 6:4-9). It is called the Shema because verse 4 begins with the command "Hear!" (Hebrew: Shema). This passage could be considered the "John 3:16" of the Old Testamentbecause like John 3:16, Deuteronomy 6:4-9 boils down the essentials of Old Testament faith to a few words.
___The heart of the Shema is found in verse 5: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." The essence of Old Testament religion is found in this verse because it indicates each Israelite was expected to have a relationship with God expressed through love.
___In Hebrew, the word "heart" refers to the seat of the will, the conscience, not the seat of the emotions as the word connotes in English. In other words, love for God must be an expression of the will and conscience--it is not dependent upon emotions (as important as emotions are in relating to God).
___The word "soul" often conveys to the English reader the idea of a spiritual soul. But the word "soul" in Hebrew simply refers to a person's self, a person's being. In other words, love for God must be an expression of the entire being of a person. "With all your strength" is clear in any language: Every effort must be made to express love for God.
___The Shema clearly indicates that the first priority for any believer is to have a loving relationship with God. And while both testaments indicate that love for God is expressed through obedience (see Deuteronomy 11:1; John 14:15), unfortunately, believers often reverse the order. They place the emphasis on performing duties for God instead of developing a loving relationship with God.
___Have you ever wondered why Jesus, when asked what the greatest commandment was, did not quote one of the Ten Commandments? He chose to quote the Shema instead (Matthew 22:37-38; Mark 12:30) because the first four commandments are summarized in the command to love God. If you love God, then you will have no other gods, you won't make graven images, you won't take God's name in vain and you will keep the Sabbath day holy. Obedience to God should be a natural outgrowth of our ongoing, personal love relationship with God. But if we reverse the order and emphasize religious duties (even important ones like prayer, evangelism, church attendance and tithing) over love for God, then we have misunderstood the whole intent of the gospel. Our single most important responsibility as believers is to love God with our entire beings. Anything else we do is secondary.
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