The Greatest Commandment

Deuteronomy 6:5
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

I used to teach at Compassvale Secondary School. When i first got there, i was reminded by some teachers to ALWAYS SET DOWN RULES when i stepped into the classroom for the first time. Well, i did. And i realized how necessary it was in the time i was there. My students knew what i wanted, and in keeping my regulations, they were my friends and dear students whom i took great care of and taught with all tenderness of heart.

Well God loves us so much He sent His only Son to die on the cross for us. And once we've accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord as Saviour, we enter into God's "classroom" for life. And when we've first done so, He too, lays down His Commandments - The Greatest one being Deuteronomy 6:5: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

Now GOD laid down His commandments not so He could bind us or restrict us further, but so He could set us free from the bondage of SIN.

How so?

In John 14:15, Jesus Christ said, "If you love me, keep my commandments". He goes on to say in verse 17 that He will sent you a helper, The Spirit of Truth, to dwell with you and be in you. The Spirit of Truth, also known as the Holy Spirit, will teach you as you study God's word and reveal to you God's truths! That is, when you love the Lord with your ENTIRE heart, mind and soul.

Now it doesn't stop there! God promises more. If we abide in His word when we love Him, He promises in John 8:32 that we "shall know the truth and the truth will shall make you free."

How wonderful it is to know that as we seek to love our Father in Heaven who first loved us, He will free us from the bondage of SINS we were strapped with before, and from IDOLS we could not turn away from.

The Greatest Commandments sounds demanding and difficult, but it serves to be the most blessed and liberating promise the Lord has given us. He yearns for us to love Him and glorify Him, that He might "make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work." [2 CORINTHIANS 9:8]

The Greatest Commandment was never meant to bind us, rather, it was meant to set us free.