ESOCS Devotional 14 February 2024 – The Greatest Commandment
MEMORY VERSE: “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” Matthew 22:36
TEXT: MATTHEW 22:34-END
But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.
35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David.
43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
44 The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?
45 If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
46 And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.
Read Other ESOCS Devotional here
There is a widely held idea in the Christian world that all of the laws of God hold equal weight. Perhaps, one of the reasons for that is the teaching of James, who writes, “Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (2:10). However, James does not mean that when we violate one point of the law, we thereby violate every particular law.
Moreover, there are frequent instances in Scripture where gradations of sin are set forth. God considered certain laws so important that He specified that violations of them deserved the death penalty. But He did not require such grave penalties for other laws. Obviously therefore, the prohibition against murdering a human being (Ex. 20:13) was of greater import than the prohibition against boiling a goat in its mother’s milk (Ex. 23:19). Even Jesus recognized a hierarchy of laws. He said, “Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments . . . shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5: 19).
To summarize, all the Laws of God are significant but they are not equally important. A violation of God’s commands is always sin but there are degrees of sin! Jesus said the most important command was to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. In other words, God wants us to love Him fully.
As you celebrate Valentine’s Day today, it’s very important you take note: the greatest command has to do with our vertical relationship with God. The second, with our horizontal relationship with each other. These two are always tied together. If we are in right relationship with God, it will impact the way we relate to each other. Until we love God correctly, we cannot say that we love people (1 Joh 4:21).
- True love towards God and other people is true Christianity. You should make it your way of life and you would have nothing to regret.
- Lord, give me the pure heart to love you and people as I ought to do.
Further Reading: Exodus 26:31-end; Psalm 105:37-end; Acts 7:23-34
ESOCS Devotional 14 February 2024
