Jesus said that the Great Commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and might (Deuteronomy 6:5; Mark 12:30). And we find that commandment repeated in verse 12 of today’s passage. But what does it really mean to love God with all we are and all we have?
Well, we know what it doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean stiffening our necks in pride, refusing to bow before the God of gods and the Lord of lords (verses 16-17). It doesn’t mean having calloused hearts that are closed off to God, resisting His love (verse 16).
No, true love for God must always involve doing what He commands because we trust that everything He has told us is for our good (verse 13). It means being loyal to God, serving Him and clinging to Him alone instead of embracing other gods, other sources of authority in our lives (verse 20).
Moreover, true love for God means wanting to be like Him, doing what He does and walking in His ways (verse 12). And what kinds of things does God do? Well, He makes sure that orphans and widows receive justice, and He makes sure that aliens have food and clothing (verse 18). In fact, He gave His commandments to a whole nation of people who had lived for generations as aliens in Egypt, a people whom He had brought of slavery and whom He promised to give a place to live (verse 11).
So, if we really love God, and if we really want to be like Him, doesn’t that mean we’ll be just as kind and generous to the helpless and the outcasts as God has been (verse 19)? In fact, since God has shown mercy to all those who trust in Christ, forgiving us of our sins just because He has loved us, shouldn’t we show that same kind of love to others? In fact, isn’t keeping the second part of the Great Commandment – loving our neighbors as ourselves – just another part of the way we love God with all we are and all we have?
Deuteronomy 10:11-22 (NASB)
11 “Then the LORD said to me, ‘Arise, proceed on your journey ahead of the people, that they may go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.’
12 “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
13 and to keep the LORD’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?
14 “Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it.
15 “Yet on your fathers did the LORD set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day.
16 “Circumcise then your heart, and stiffen your neck no more.
17 “For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality, nor take a bribe.
18 “He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.
19 “So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
20 “You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him and cling to Him, and you shall swear by His name.
21 “He is your praise and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen.
22 “Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.
