Daily Devotional for Monday 1st July
Lessons for Leaders
Do you have a personal mission statement for life? Walt Disney’s was this, ‘To make people happy.’ If you’d like to see the kind of things people suggest, there are plenty on the Internet for you to choose from, just search for ‘outstanding mission statements for your life’.
In this passage, we read about an important Jewish leader who was obviously one of the delegation that came to visit Jesus earlier (v3 & v28). It’s not clear what his motive was for this solo return visit. It’s a strange conversation because it seems that he already knows the answer to his question. Perhaps he was just testing out how radical Jesus’ views might be.
In the end, it turns out that Jesus is completely in line with Old Testament teaching as He quotes the Shemah creed. Pious Jews would recite this every day although Jesus actually adds in the words ‘with all your mind’ (v.30). In essence Jesus is saying that our total being should be employed in loving God – our emotions; our intellect; our physical bodies and our soul or spirit. Every part of our being is to bring pleasure to God.
So first of all Jesus addresses the vertical plane, our love for God. It’s a love that ascends to God as creator and sustainer of us and the world in which we live. Then Jesus flips the direction by 90 degrees and adds a quote from Leviticus directing our love outwards to those around us. We are to show no less regard for others than we show ourselves.
What Jesus says stops the Jewish leader in his tracks. We hear no more about this man either, so we don’t know whether he adopted Jesus’ suggestion for a personal mission statement for life. ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength and your neighbour as yourself.’
Time to reflect…
Have you a personal mission statement for life? What do you think about adopting Jesus command to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength and your neighbour as yourself.’
Pause to pray…
Creator God, help us to live our lives in ways that show both our love for you and our love for those around us. When we fall short, encourage us and help us to grow more like you day by day. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
