Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

                                                                                                               Matthew 22:36-40

Today: Read Matthew 22

It seems that the Pharisees were always trying to catch Jesus in His words. Today, we look at one such event in which the question posed to Jesus was merely for the purposes of trapping Him (Matthew 22:35). Nevertheless, the question is a good one, so let’s take the opportunity to hear Jesus’ answer. And what was the question? Which of the commandments is the most important? Can you imagine what possibilities they expected to hear? “Maybe Jesus will identify adultery as the biggest prohibition. Or perhaps He’ll say murder.” Whatever Jesus’ answer, the Pharisees were ready to pounce.

But Jesus didn’t fall for such scheming. He told the Pharisees that all of the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments: Love God with your entire being (heart, soul, and mind) and love others as yourself. The Law and the Prophets constitute the entirety of the Old Testament of the Bible. Just like hanging up your coat when entering your house, Jesus says that you can hang all of the Old Testament on these two commandments. We know that God is love (1 John 4:8) and that the first fruit of God’s Spirit mentioned is love (Galatians 5:22), it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Jesus would consolidate all of the Law into two commands both involving love.

Throughout the new covenant, we are reminded that love is not a side issue rather it is to take center stage in the life of a believer. Jesus says that loving one another is the way that the world will be able to recognize us (John 13:34-35). Jesus describes “treating others the way we want to be treated” as summing up the Law and Prophets (Matthew 7:12). Love is the fulfillment of the Law (Romans 13:10) and “treating our neighbors properly,” is referred to as the royal law and when we are able to do that, scripture says, “we do well” (James 2:8).

So we have a strong scriptural trail affirming the second greatest commandment identified by Christ. I believe most people can assess whether or not they are loving other people, but what about loving God? Since Jesus establishes that as the greatest commandment, is there a way that we can know if we are truly loving God? I believe Psalm 37 can help. It describes four areas commonly present in the life of those who truly love God. Answering these questions can help us determine where we stand.

(1) Do we trust God above all other people or things? (v 3).

The essence of faith means to trust. If we claim to be believers in Jesus Christ, we are by default indicating that we trust Him and Him alone. When we trust in God we are blessed and we find spiritual strength (Jeremiah 17:7-8). Trusting God gives us direction in our lives (Proverbs 3:5-6) and is the means by which we are eternally saved (John 3:18). To love God is to trust Him!

(2) Do we delight in God? (v 4)

As Christians, we can enjoy a relationship with our Creator. If your Christian life seems heavy and burdensome, then you are missing out. Believers should delight in knowing God. The Psalm attaches a promise for those who delight in the Lord: “He will give them the desires of their heart.” To love God is to delight in Him!

(3) Do we commit our ways to God? (v 5)

To commit our ways to God is to dedicate everything that we do to the furthering of His kingdom. It is to focus on accomplishing things that have an eternal impact. To commit our way to God is to ask Him to direct our paths so that we may make the most of the time we have. To love God is to commit our ways to Him!

(4) Do we rest in the Lord’s provision? (v 7)

Lastly, believers are to rest in God. This is living in complete contentment with who we are and what we have. This type of rest goes beyond the world’s understanding by allowing believers to relax while the rest of the world seems to be running crazy. Jesus invites everyone who is tired and burdened to come to Him and He promises that He will give them rest (Matthew 11:28). To love God is to rest in Him!

In summary, do you trust, delight in, commit your way to, and rest in God? If the answers are all yes, then I believe you can say with a good conscience that you are fulfilling the first and greatest commandment of loving God with your all of your heart, soul, and mind. If trusting, delighting, committing, and resting are not descriptions of your current spiritual life, talk to someone you trust about this issue.

There is one more thing we need to say. These two commandments work in tandem. Without loving God, we are sure to fall short of loving others the way Christ does. Likewise, we cannot claim love for a God who we can’t see without loving people who we can see (1 John 4:20). Here’s to living out our lives in obedience to these two commandments!