Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. – Deuteronomy 6:5

Today's Scripture Reading (February 22, 2025): Deuteronomy 6

Poet Maya Angelou (1928-2014) said that "Love recognizes no barriers." If we love, we will not see the barriers that others see. And it is more than just romantic love. We are to live our lives living out the aims of love to everyone, even those who disagree with us. This kind of love seems to make us feel weak in this world. If I love my neighbor despite the bad behavior that they do, then how will I change their behavior? (I have great neighbors, but I know that not everyone is as lucky as I am.) How do I love that neighbor who gets drunk late at night and then goes out in his backyard and yells at the stars but still get him to stop what he is doing? And sometimes, what our neighbors need is to know that we love them, despite what they might be doing, even when they annoy us and yell at the stars. 

Deuteronomy 6 is one of the most critical passages in the Tanakh. It is called the "Shema," and it begins with these words.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts (Deuteronomy 6:4-6).

The first command that Israel needs to learn is to love God with everything they possess. Love is the starting place of worshiping God. Australian Old Testament Scholar J. A. Thompson (1913-2002) writes;

What God most wants from humanity is love. It is easy to think that God is more interested in many other things: time, money, effort, will, submission, and so forth. But what God really wants from humanity is their love. When people really love the LORD with all the heart, soul, and mind, then all else is freely given to the LORD. If one starts by giving to God all the rest – money, time, effort, will, and so forth – without giving Him love, then all is wasted – and perhaps, all is lost. "Israel's obedience was not to spring from a barren legalism based on necessity and duty. It was to arise from a relationship based on love." (John Arthur Thompson)

Once we learn to love God, we begin to love those God has created, regardless of who they are. The barriers start to drop. If we are true worshippers of God, we will be characterized by love, beginning with God and spreading to others, not because it is our duty but arising from a relationship based on love. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 7