The Great Commandment

"Jesus answered, 'The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, The Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength''...And the scribe said to him,'...to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength...is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices'" Mark 12:29-33.

The great commandment. How often do I actually follow it? Sure, I think about it, I pray silently in situations that are hard, I listen to Christian music in my car, I read my Bible. But I also consistently let things slide that do not honor God. I often think about how to be a Christian in a non-Christian setting to people who are far from Christ. I often think about when to stick up for God, when to let things go, when to be clear, when to silently pray, when to be righteously angry, when to be understanding, when to do almost everything at all most all times. Maybe one day I'll learn how to truly let Christ be all but for now I'm still trying pretty hard to be perfect like He is.

One of the things that rubs me most wrong is the dozens of times I hear the Lord's name taken in vain daily. I ask myself, 'is this something I should stop a conversation for and ask the person to not say it? Is it worth making things awkward? Would it actually build the kingdom or would it make the doer think I'm an extremist? Am I validating not saying anything because I'm trying to 'accept them for who they are'?' I ask myself these questions all the time. But here's my answer: am I at all times adhering to the greatest commandment to LOVE the Lord with ALL my HEART, MIND and STRENGTH? Am I doing everything possible to love God at all costs?

The greatest commandment is not evangelize, it's not lend a helping hand, it's not make someone feel better about themselves. The 'most important' commandment is to love God with everything we've got, regardless of the consequences. I wonder what our world would look like if Christians loved God at all costs, at all peril to themselves, with all staked on His victory and great plan?

There's no clear cut right answer for every situation. There's no cookie-cutter Christian pat-answer. But what we have is a God that knows what we're going to face and if we only spend time with Him we too will be called conquerors, blameless, victors over a life destined for death. To live life without putting God first is to only half-live. But that decision needs to be made every day, every moment so that God truly would be preeminent.