August 6 - You Shall Love

Matthew 22:34-40

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37 ESV)

Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment in Scripture and his answer was incredibly simple. The beauty f the simplicity is found in his charge that God's people are to be people who love. In fact, one translation has his answer start with the words, "You shall love."

So, when the Son of God was asked for the greatest directive in all of scripture his answer was that we should love. Christianity is exactly that, a call to love. We are to love God and love people.

The love Jesus compels us toward is not one of hyper emotion and shallow substance either. He said that we were to love with all of our being. We should love with our heart, the seat of our emotions and feelings. We should our soul, the very fabric of our identity in Christ. We are to love with our mind. Our thought life should be uplifting.

It is not always easy to love with everything that we have. But I believe it is sometimes less about achievement and more about intentional persistence. God wants to see us want Him. He wants us to desire a closer relationship and an authentic commitment, and like any good parent offers correctional I understanding when we fail. In fact, in the shadow of such a loving and compassionate Father "you shall love" doesn't seem like such a difficult thing.

August 3 - Testing Jesus

Matthew 22:15-22

But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? (Matthew 22:18 ESV)

Once again the misguided Pharisees sought to entrap Jesus with their petty questions and clumsy tests. Jesus always saw straight through their tests. They weren't really interested in getting answers, they were looking for reasons to blame, doubt, of entrap him. People still do the same thing today.

It is true that many atheists and various other skeptics chalk their doubts up to the ideas of proof, but so do believers. I have been a Christian for over twenty years and there a days when I have doubts. There are moments, when like the Pharisees, I look up and cast my test before the King of kings.

I believe that doubt can be a healthy thing when it pushes us toward honest evaluation and careful contemplation. But it can also be arrogant folly when we take our stance, presume ourselves to be the standard for truth, and call all others to verify truth through our personal view of the world.

The Pharisees were testing Jesus because he was undermining their religious hold on their personal world. He was stirring things up. They didn't test him because they wanted truth. They tested him because they were looking for leverage. That can be easy to forget. I would do better to remember just that the next time that I feel like testing Jesus.