What Is The Greatest Commandment? (Daily Devotional)

Hello and welcome to Living supernaturally. We are so glad that you could be here, and we could study God’s word together. His word is so interesting and in God’s word we see especially in the ministry of Jesus; there were people who came and asked Him certain questions. The questions were interesting and so were the responses. As the Lord answered these questions, when we study them, we can learn and apply this truth in our lives. We are doing this series in which we are looking at the questions these people asked the Lord Jesus and studying the answers which the Lord gave them.

Today we are going to look at Mathew chapter 22 and verses 36 to 40. So, there was this scribe, this lawyer and as the Lord was teaching them the scribe came and asked the Lord this question, verse 36 says, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” So, we see an interesting question, and an equally interesting answer that follows. The scribe came and asked the Lord, Teacher which is the great commandment in the law. He was asking which is the most important one so that he could do that and be done with it.

The Lord answers him by bringing focus to God Himself. He says, ‘You shall love the Lord your God.’ This is the manner in which you shall love the Lord your God- with all your heart (no half measures, whole heartedly), with all your soul and all your mind meaning everything to do with your thoughts, imaginations, intentions, motives, and intellectual capacity. He didn’t stop with that, He went on to give another commandment and the second commandment is like this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The Lord brought the focus onto God. The Westminster catechism goes like this, ‘the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.’ The purpose/ objective is to know God, to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever.

Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and verse 13 says, ‘Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.’ At the center of everything, we might think we are the center of life itself and everything revolves around us but really everything is around Him. So, we are commanded to love God which means we have to know Him in order to love Him and journey with Him. So, knowing God, loving God is the chief purpose of man, and the Lord says in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33, ‘But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.’ That’s the priority, God comes first, He takes first preference and priority and everything else falls in place.

Let’s pray, Father God today, we ask that our priorities will be realigned; if they are out of place, I pray they will be put back in place with you right at the top and that we will love you with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and everything within us and that we will seek your Kingdom and your righteousness first and foremost. This is what we are called to do and when we do that, everything else will fall in place. May we experience this even as we apply this word, we thank you, in Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.

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