34But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. 35One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: 36“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
37Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’e 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’f 40The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
Love God more than you love yourself, and love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. It reminds me of plague that was once seen on the desk of Chicago football coach George Halas which read “God is first, my friends are second, I am third.” But Jesus takes the importance of his answer to entirely different level when he says the entire law, and all the prophets, are based upon these two statements.
If Jesus tells us the entire Bible, the Word of God, is based on these two statements, shouldn’t our lives be based on them. In this short exchange, Jesus has greatly simplified our lives. In every action and every question and every dilemma in our lives we can simply ask: “Am I showing extreme love for God in this? Am I showing extreme love for others in this?”
Lord, I so often put myself ahead of You and ahead of others in my life. Change my heart so I don’t even want to do this any more. Teach me to live by those two simple commands that are the foundation of Your Kingdom. Beginner’s Online Bible Study *obbs*
