Bible Question:
please tell how do i love Jehovah as stated in Deut 6...where or how do i start??? and i am not refering to the love that i have seen expressed by so called christians in the past, not lip service, remember what Yeshua said in Matthew 15:8,9... This is all i see of christian love...Please advise....thank you,' fred |
Bible Answer: Fred, IF you really long to “love Jehovah”, I trust you will “have ears to hear what my words say.” Not to be “trite” concerning your frustrating experience, but - “Been there, done that” comes to my mind. :) When using Scripture to back up anything, we MUST note to whom, etc. it is written. Like, Deut 6:1 "...the statutes and ordinances, which the Lord your God commanded that YOU (the Israelites) be taught to observe IN THE LAND into which you are crossing." Verse 3 says, "Hear O' ISRAEL" not 'Hear O' everyone'. The chapter refers to the physical land of of what became Israel before it was taken from them, as promised by the Lord. Matt 15:8-9 is connect to verse 1. It tells us to whom Jesus spoke His repuke. The Pharisees. Verse 6-7 is also connected - the hypocrites which added their "tradition" to what God had said, is to whom Isaiah wrote about and Jesus referred to. Tradition turned into "commands". Paul warns Christians not to get caught up in such teachings that place commands, ordinaces, rules to observe, etc. 2 Tim 3:16 states ALL Scripture is profitable for “doctrine”. This tells us that, “we can’t pull out pieces of a “topic” and ignore what the “rest” of Scripture says about that topic. So the topic of your question is “how to LOVE GOD”, correct? To simplify my answer, I offer two verses. Gal. 5:14: “For the WHOLE LAW (found in Deut) IS SUMMED UP in one statement – ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’. ! John 4:20 “If anyone says, ‘I love God’ and yet hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love his brother whom he has seen CANNOT LOVE GOD, whom he has not seen.” The concept that is “profitable for doctrine” that results from these two of many Scriptures is: ‘In order to love God with all our heart, our minds, our strength – one MUST first and foremost love his neighbor, whom he has seen, as much as he loves himself. The result is A LOVE FOR GOD that is NOT with lip service, as the Israelites (and others throughout the centuries) have tried to pull off. Fred, I trust these words will encourage you to act upon them. Do you remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:31-46? Jesus isn’t coming to “separate” those who ‘ate all the correct feasts, obeyed all the ordinances, or observed the Sabbaths’ from those who didn’t. The separating of the sheep and the goats RESULTS because there are those who “loved their neighbors as themselves” – rather than “loved JUST themselves”. Think about that! Have you ever noticed - those whom the Good Shepherd tends are AS ONE? “Sheep” has no plural. Neither does Christ's body. It isn't made up of Jews and Gentiles who believe. It's made of of whosoever believes become ONE BODY of Christ. Blessings upon you and yours, Fred Taleb |