Love God, Love People

OPENING PRAYER. . .Loving God, Creator of all that is, here I am--today in this place that you have given me, with all the senses you have given me. Help me to use them to experience you on a deeper level. May I experience you all around me, open me to know more of your ways and know that your goodness surrounds me. Thank you for this time to be with you, to be still and to just listen. Amen

LISTEN:  "One of the religion scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answer and seeing how sharp Jesus was in his answers, he put in his question: “Which is most important of all the commandments?”
^29-31 Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.”
^32-33 The religion scholar said, “A wonderful answer, Teacher! So lucid and accurate—that God is one and there is no other. And loving him with all passion and intelligence and energy, and loving others as well as you love yourself. Why, that’s better than all offerings and sacrifices put together!”
³⁴ When Jesus realized how insightful he was, he said, “You’re almost there, right on the border of God’s kingdom.” Mark 12:28-34

CONSIDER:  Many people say it is hard to define what makes a saint, but many of us would agree that we know one when we see one. Simple goodness cannot be faked nor can it be camouflaged. Loving God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength and furthermore, loving your neighbor as yourself,  will leave a trail of care and concern for the welfare of others.  Not all saints talk much about God. Not all saints go to church. Jesus was impressed with the man in this Gospel lesson.  He was a man of little talk and simple goodness. Those words, "you're almost there, right on the border of God's kingdom" are words that all of us might want to hear.

SO WHAT:  When we love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, it only seems natural that the result will be loving our neighbor as ourselves, but . . . We find it very difficult to "be all in" when it comes to our relationship with God. We seem to only want to go so far and then we pull back. Are we afraid of the changes that will happen when we are "all in"? Do we even know how to be "all in" for God? "Do we know that nothing that we do in this life will ever matter, unless it is about loving God and loving the people He has made?" Francis Chan-Crazy Love

• Be honest with yourself and God, what is it that keeps you from giving your all to God, being "all in" for God?
•  What would your life look like if you began loving God with all that you have?
• What difference would it make to the people you come in contact with if you loved God and them with all that you have?
• What would it be like to love everybody, no matter who they are, no matter what their sin, no matter what?

TODAY, make a commitment to "be all in" for God. Be bold, be strong, be who God has called you to be. Love radically and without limits, just as Jesus did.

PRAYER: Dear God, show me how to be "all in " for you. Teach me to love like you love. Remove any embarrassment I might feel in showing not only my love for you but my love for everyone. May I love like Jesus. Amen