By Andrea Merrell
Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this:
‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and
only Lord.
And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart,
all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.”
The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.
No other commandment is greater than these.”
Mark 12:29-31 NLT
It was one of
those weeks when my to-do list seemed three miles long. After being quite ill,
I was behind in my household tasks and all other normal routines.
Some call it the
tyranny of the urgent, much like the proverbial squeaky wheel that always gets
the attention above all else. It’s a self-generated expectation that puts us
under unnecessary pressure. It steals our peace and joy and keeps us from being
led by the Spirit of God.
Jesus said, “The
most important commandment is this … you must love the Lord your God with all
your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength … and your
neighbor as yourself.”
We can get so
caught up in trivial matters that we forget, ignore, or neglect what God is
calling us to do. Even in the church, we can get so busy serving Him that we
neglect loving Him—and others.
Solomon sums it up
quite well in Ecclesiastes 12:13: “Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God
and obey His commandments, for this is everyone’s duty” (NLT).
Our relationship
with the Lord comes first. Everything else can wait.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash