4 words

Mark 12

28 One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate.

He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked,

     "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"


  29 Jesus replied,

     "The most important commandment is this:

        'Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD.

        30 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart,

            all your soul,

            all your mind,

            and all your strength.'

31 The second is equally important:

        'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

No other commandment is greater than these."


  32 The teacher of religious law replied,

        "Well said, Teacher.

        You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other.

        33 And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself.

This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law."
 
 34 Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him,

        "You are not far from the Kingdom of God."

And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.



So, there you have it...


If you boil down what Jesus told the man about the two greatest commandments, you can sum it all up in 4 words...


Love God.

Love people.


If you think about it, if you really & truly love God with everything you've got & in every way you know how, everything about a relationship w/ Him falls into place.

And if you really & completely love people with everything that's in you, everything that God would want you to be & do in regards to your relationship w/ His other children will also fall into place.


Love God, love people.


4 words say it all.


Now, the tough part starts...


   ...living it out.


;-)