March 1, 2009 · Deuteronomy 6:1–9

The Words Above All Other Words

These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.

“A long time before Israel actually acts or believes there's only one God. For a long time they spend more time worshipping other gods than they do the one and only true God. So what Moses does, after he explains there's one God — kind of this basic premise — then he says, here's what it means to believe in that one true God. Verse five. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your strength. Love God. I want to point out, first of all, love is the basis of the law. We always hear this kind of like — New Testament love, Old Testament evil. Love is the basis for the law in the Old Testament. It's just a hidden principle that Jesus needs to unpack for people to actually see that it's already back there. Right here. It's right here. Love the Lord your God. But the problem is, love isn't just an emotion. Love is an important aspect of our human relationship with God — it's the most important aspect of our relationship with anyone. But love isn't just like this feeling you get. It's not that thing that goes away. You know — you used to have butterflies when you were around this one person, so you married them, and then the butterflies went away, so you could just leave them, because I'm not in love any more. That's not what love is. Love's not a feeling. Love is a commitment. It is an action of your whole person. Moses is very clear. He says: love God with all of yourself. All of it. You can't hide any little bits of it. All your heart — it could also be translated whole. So this verse here is the key to holistic holiness. Love God with your whole heart, your whole being, your whole effort. Every last inch of it.”