Sunday Scripture

 

Again this Sunday, I'm sharing from the Made for Community reading plan from Love God Greatly that I worked on back in 2015.  With this study, as I have often done, I used the SOAP method of Bible study.  Just a quick reminder that the S is for Scripture, O is for Observation, A is for Application and P is for Prayer.  The sixth section is Living in Community in Our Spheres of Influence.  So here we go with the Scripture for the first day of that section. Again this lesson, I took a deeper-than-usual dive into the Observation component of the study.

S= "Jesus said unto him,  Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
"This is the first and great commandment.
"And the second is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."  (Matthew 22:37-39)

O= This chapter shows Jesus answering the questions of several religious groups -- the Herodians (verses 15-22), the Sadducees (verses 23-33), and the Pharisees (verses 34-46).  C.I. Scofield comments, "Verses 15-46 record our Lord's meetings with the representatives of Israel -- the Herodians, the Sadducees, and the Pharisees.  Although He answered their questions and put them to silence, they did not repent and turn to Him in faith."

Verse 36 records that one of these Pharisees, an expert in Jewish law, asked Jesus this question: "Which is the great commandment in the law?"

Verses 37-39 give Jesus' answer, that the first and great commandment is "to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."

Several cross-references are given here:

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 -- "Hear, O Israel, The LORD our God is one LORD.  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."

Deuteronomy 10:12 -- "And now, O Israel, what doth the LORD require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God,  to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul?"

Jesus then went a step farther and told the lawyer what the second greatest commandment is: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

Several more cross-references here:

Leviticus 19:18 -- "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; I am the LORD."

Matthew 19:19 -- "Honor thy father and thy mother; and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

Romans 13:9 -- "... and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

Galatians 5:14 -- "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

A= So my first requirement in living life is to love the Lord my God
* with all my heart
* with all my soul
* with all my mind.

This is a tall order in and of itself!

Then my second requirement is to love my neighbor as I love myself.  Again, this is a big challenge.  Neither of these commandments can be obeyed in my own strength.  I must have God's help.

P= "Lord, I thank You for the clarity of Your Word.  I thank You for these clear, simple commands that make it so obvious how Your people are to live.  Although these commands are clear and simple, they cannot be obeyed in my own strength.  I must have Your wisdom, Your strength, and Your enabling power.  Help me to love You with all my heart, soul, and mind.  Help me, too, to love my neighbor as I love myself.  This is not humanly possible, but requires Your supernatural strength.  I thank You for how You will help me in these areas, in Jesus' name, Amen."

And that's our simple study for today!