So, what’s your main thing?
You know, the thing that you love above all else?
We all have a main thing, a love greater than all else.
Exodus 20:3 tells us:
“You shall have no other gods before me”
Are our main things like gods in our lives?
Are they the main things in our hearts?
What if they ceased to exist, to live? Could we carry on with just the love of God?
I ask myself these questions sometimes … wondering if the things, the ones, that I love most have become idols in my heart and mind. I wonder if I have elevated them above my reliance on the one who made me. I wonder if I love him above all else.
As I was pondering my God, my loves, my heart, I sought out what Jesus had to say about this first commandment, for, though he does not retract from the Old Testament commandments, he does provide further clarification (Mark 12:30)
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your mind
and with all your strength.
It would seem that whereas the OT commandment sounds very much like a rule, the NT version would seem to sound sound like an act of choice (can love ever be anything but a choice?). To love with heart, soul, mind and strength is to love with every part of us, who we are.
Love is a pretty big deal in the ministry of Jesus. After expressing the greatest commandment (above) he left us with one additional commandment,
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
They really go together, for in our choosing to love God, we seek to be like him and there is no greater expression of our love for him than to love others.
Now back to the beginning … our main thing?
I think I have come to realize that God has to be my main thing. That I have to love him above all else, not just as a security blanket that keeps me safe for all eternity, but because I cannot love anyone else well if I do not first dwell in my love for my Creator. For it is in loving him that I am able to love others.
itsawonderfilledlife 