Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.
In Mark 12, a teacher of the law asked Jesus, “What is the most important law God gave?” (v. 28)
Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” Then he added, “The second command is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No laws are greater than these.” (v. 29-30)
“Well said, Teacher,” the man replied. “To love God and love your neighbor is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” (v. 32-33)
Jesus said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (v. 34)
In his book The Year of Living Biblically, AJ Jacobs tells about a year he spent trying to follow all the rules in the Bible as literally as possible. (https://ajjacobs.com/books/the-year-of-living-biblically/)
A secular Jew from New York City, Jacobs made a list of over 700 biblical commands, everything from the Ten Commandments to obscure rules like don’t trim the corners of your beard and don’t eat shellfish. Then he set out to follow them for a year.
Oddly enough, his book mentions Jesus’ most important rule, “Love God” only once, in passing. “Love your neighbor as yourself” gets a four-page discussion, where Jacobs concludes, “If you try to literally follow . . . love your neighbor as yourself . . . well, you can’t.” (p. 323)
But in an interview about what he learned that year, Jacobs said, “My Bible year taught me something I wish I had known the first 38 years of my life: If you want to be happy, pursue other people’s happiness. Do good things for others.” (https://sojo.net/articles/year-living-biblically-interview-author-aj-jacobs)
I wonder if Jesus would say to Jacobs, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
Hmmm. I wonder if Jesus would say that to me.
Let’s pray.
O father, we try to follow your laws, to do our duty to you and family and friends and church. But how can we know we love you?
We know because we are sad when we don’t sense your presence.
Because we grieve when we grieve your spirit.
Because we are glad when we find ourselves lost in worship.
Because we are joyful when we hear you say “Well done.”
May we find, as Jacobs did, that obeying your commands changes us. That expressing gratitude, avoiding gossip, practicing sabbath, living with reverence, gives us new life and new perspectives.
Teach us to live biblically. Teach us to love you and others.
Amen.
I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.
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