THE INTERIOR
Love The Lord With All Your Might
Mt 22:36-37 "Master, which is the great commandment in the Law?"
Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind."
Mark 12:29 And Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is, 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment."
Luke 10:27 And answering, he said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."
His words echo with simplicity: "Return to your first love."
Where did you find love that first time?
Was it lying in the street?
Was it in a pool hall?
Glowing in a crystal?
On Prime Time?
Hidden in pop song?
Was it in a whore's bed?
So what is love anyway?
For me, it lies in one tumultuous, yet quiet moment when I said, "Yes", to His asking that I give Him my life. The filling of the Spirit began love, real love. I know because I spent so much time in my life nurturing hate. So much that it lingers, a bad habit that returns to haunt me like nicotine cravings. The only cure is to stay away from it, to return again and again to the one I love. To recall that love lies in Him, not me. A cure I take far more seldom than I like to admit.
But what is thing thing called love?
I carry it with me, but it lifts the weight on my shoulders. It fills me and empties my heart. It owns me, but never pulls a leash. It says hello to strangers when every fiber of my common sense cries, "RUN!" It touches hands that have let go of loved ones. It raises hope on salted soil. It walks on water. It strolls into tombs and marches the dead out into life. It asks me for a glass of water as a tramp on the road, then gives me an eternal river. It restores my soul.
John said: "God is love."
And the centrality of God becomes the first commandment in love.
