Loving God

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37)
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​Jesus tells us that the first great commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37), but what does that look like?  What does it mean to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind?  Jesus is quoting from a passage in the Old Testament known as the Great Shema (Deut 6:4ff.).  Shema is the Hebrew word for to hear or to listen.  This is because it begins with the words, “Hear [shema], O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”  But again, what does that look like?  God goes on to say to them, “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”  Notice.  To love God with all your heart, soul, and might means that the word of God shall be on your heart, you shall teach them diligently to your children, shall talk of God’s word when you sit, walk, lie down, and when you rise up.  That is, the word of God should consume every part of your day and life.  Your entire world should revolve around God and his word.  This is what it means to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind.