Reading: Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Deuteronomy 6:5 – “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your being, and all your strength.”

Today and this week is all about staying in love with God. This is John Wesley’s third simple rule. This last “rule of life” empowers one’s efforts to keep the first two rules: “do no harm” and “do good.” These two encapsulate the command to love neighbor as oneself. Our love of neighbor is rooted in our love of God.

In verse 4 we are reminded that there is only one God. Our God is not one of many gods. This too is how God looks at you and at me and at everyone. Each of our relationships with God is supremely important to God. I’m reminded of a line from the book The Shack. Each time Mac asks God about this person or that person, God says, “I’m especially fond of that one.” Every time.

We read one of the two great commands in verse 5: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your being, and all your strength.” Love was a word used in ancient covenants. In this Near Eastern context this kind of love implied total obedience and faithfulness to the covenant. But because our God is a relational God, this concept of love extends far beyond our expected external and ethical behaviors. Within the faith context, there is an added depth of internal devotion. Hence the charge to love God with all that we are: heart, being, and strength.

Verses 6-9 reveal how this internal, comprehensive love of God is meant to impact all of communal life. We are to remind ourselves and our children to love God and neighbor, “talking” about it all the time. We are to “write” this command to love on the hand and forehead, on the doorframes of our houses, and in the gates of our cities. We are to talk and write about the love of God in our homes, in our neighborhoods, and in our communities. We talk and write by being love lived out in all aspects of life. May it be so.

Prayer: Lord God, this call to love is comprehensive. May it begin in our heart and soul, growing our love of you through worship, study, meditation, and prayer. Then may it grow from this place, moving out into all of our relationships, allowing each person we encounter to experience your great love for them. Amen.