The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 16 JULY 2023 – TOPIC: LOVE, THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT
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THE DAILY FOUNTAIN
DAILY DEVOTIONAL OF THE
CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)
DATE: SUNDAY, JULY 16, 2023
(6th Sunday after Trinity)
TOPIC: LOVE, THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT
READ: MARK 12:28-34 (NKJV)
12:28. Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”
12:29. Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments [is:] ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.
12:30. ‘And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This [is] the first commandment.
12:31. “And the second, like [it, is] this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
12:32. So the scribe said to Him, “Well [said,] Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He.
12:33. “And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
12:34. Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” But after that no one dared question Him.
THE MESSAGE:
After the historic triumphal entry, the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes of the city asked the Lord Jesus many questions which He answered discreetly. Seeing how appropriate the answers were, one of the scribes questioned Him on the greatest commandment. The Lord gave an astute answer – the first commandment is to love God and the second is to love our neighbour as ourselves. The reaction of the scribe to Jesus’ answer was quite impressive. Unlike other scribes who had negative intents and were hypocritical, this man was sincere. He answered from his heart. And the Lord Jesus Who knows all men saw the sincerity of that scribe and declared ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God’ (verse 34). In other words, anyone who must enter into the kingdom of God cannot do away with these two dimensions of love. Without doubt, love is the fulfilment of the law.
Brethren, your love for God must be without wavering and your commitment to the well-being of your fellow humans must not dwindle. As children of God, we cannot claim to be on the right track with the Lord when we express hatred, jealousy and backbiting towards our neighbours. One major evidence of loving God is to show the love of Christ to those around us. The conclusion of Jesus Christ on this subject makes it clear that whoever does not embrace the love of God and show it to others is far from the kingdom of God.
PRAYER: Father, please give me grace to love You dearly and my neighbours as myself
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