Mark 12:28b-34
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30)
Our readings today focus on a particular theme of how we are to respond to the Lord; how He asks for our obedience. But I want to focus on the type of obedience, because Scripture mentions this is a gift and denotes our understanding of how to live a life of relationship with God.
One aspect I want to draw attention to is how the Lord goes back to basics; how He goes back to Scripture. Sometimes I ask or look for the Lord to move or speak in new, groundbreaking ways. However, I felt convicted of his desire to restore the language of our prayer time together to be Scripture based and focused. Without this basic element, I will lack the understanding and tenacity to apply his word and Iive it out. Just like the Israelite people who were instructed to remember and pray this daily, I too must incorporate his word as the foundation of my faith life if I wish my relationship with Him to bear fruit.
And when I offer to Him this obedience, the fruit becomes love. We know spending time with the word changes us. The change He brings about is a purification of the way I am called to love the Lord with all “my” heart, soul, mind, and strength, in the particular realms He has placed and invited me in.
I pray the Holy Spirit gives us wisdom and obedience as we draw to the close of this liturgical season, so that we can love more authentically and prepare our hearts to receive Him more fully in the next.
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