September 10, 2010 | Mark 12:10

Read: Mark 12:10 - "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."

Examine: As Jesus is in His final week, much of His interactions in Mark 12 are with the various religious/political, Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. Every group was trying to trap Him in some kind of lie or heresy. Jesus handles them with great wisdom and authority and completely frustrates them to the point that they all the more ready to kill Him. Finally, it appears that there is a Pharisee that came forward with an honest to goodness question: "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" Jesus answered and was pleased with the Pharisee's response.

Apply: Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength. Passion, Devotion, Curiosity and Sweat. There are a number of ways to say it, but essentially, I am called to love God with everything. When I look at these four aspects of love, each one has its own particular challenge for me. These questions are the way I'm processing each one:

Heart - What/Who is my greatest passion of life that influences my various passions in life?
The answer can really only be two things: God or myself.

Soul - Who am I trusting for my source of identity, strength, help and guidance?
David wrote in the Psalms about how at times his soul would be downcast within him. I am the king of self-talk and often the things that I think/speak to myself are not the same words that my Heavenly Father would use. I am primarily a spiritual being who is fully dependent on God for peace and guidance, yet, I often try to walk in my own power and discernment.

Mind - What am I curious about?
Am I more curious about the God of heaven and the great mysteries of Who He is as Father, Son and Spirit or my fantasy football team(s)!? Do I have a greater curiosity about "friends" on Facebook or the Friend who is closer than a brother yet whose holiness, that if I truly understood, would drop me to my knees? There's so much to know and discover about God in the Scriptures and in His creation around me. A demonstration of love is how I seek to discover more about Him.

Strength - What am I doing to meet physical needs?
Of all the aspects of love, this is the most challenging for me today. On a day-to-day basis, I spend my time indoors. While I have responsibilities as a pastor to care for people through discipleship, counsel and prayer, there's also this aspect of love that I know needs development in my life. I've experienced working so hard on a project for someone I love that when it's done, there's this intense satisfaction that comes alongside exhaustion. To love God with all my strength will require this type of hard work.

Prayer: Lord, You truly are my source of strength and love. I can only love You back because You loved me first. I did nothing to deserve Your love. May I never forget that. Thank you for loving me without condition. Thank You for revealing Who you are in Your Word and in Your creation. My prayer, Father, is that I would love You with all of me and that that would be seen in these various aspects of loving You. I pray this in the name of Christ. Amen.