The Great Command – Part Three

        “Jesus said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Basically it means we should be all sold out for the Lord God. You are to love Him with – – –

        All your “Heart.” This is a summary for the hub of your existence. The very core of your nature. The ancients lived in a day before medical science was well developed. They realized conscious thought came from the brain. They thought it resulted from the blood carrying thoughts through it. The heart was known to pump the blood. Therefore, they concluded that all thoughts originated in the heart. By using the word “heart” they were saying we are to love God at the very source of all conscious thought. It was a reference to our intellect. This gives greater importance to Proverbs 4:23, “Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

        We are to love Him with all of our “soul,” which is a summary for your emotions.

        It is said the human personality consists of one-fifth intellect and four-fifths emotions.  That means our decisions are made on the basis of 20% intellect and 80% emotions.  Therefore, if we are going to make the right choices we need Christ-controlled emotions.  

        When something happens most people respond emotionally and, consequently, reduce their capacity for rational thought. 

        Will James, Father of modern psychology in America, said, “In any project the one important factor is your belief.  Without belief there can be no successful action.  That is fundamental!” 

        You are to love God with all of your mind. The Old Testament passage uses “might,” whereas Jesus uses “mind.” Inherent in the Hebrew understanding of “might” was moving ahead energetically with forethought. As used here, it does not refer simply to your intellectual ability but to your disposition or attitude.

        The point is we are to love God with “ALL” our facilities.

        If we love Him as such, it will be evident. Love responds happily in obedience to the slightest wish of the beloved. The distinguishing mark of any believer is willing obedience to Christ. You don’t prove you are a Christian by saying you believe in God. You demonstrate the validity of your faith when as a result of your belief, you display a consuming love for Jesus.

        Love for Jesus results from thoughts being transformed into our attitudes as well as our actions.

        William Borden, heir to the Borden fortune, abandoned it and followed Jesus as a missionary wrote in his Bible on the day of his death, “No reserve. No retreat. No regrets.”