[Faith-talk] Daily Thought for Thursday, February 6, 2014

[Paul]

Hello all my loyal readers on this Thursday or Friday morning, depending on where you are.  I hope that your day is going well, went well or about to begin, by God's matchless grace and His providential care.

Rudolph Norden wrote a short but very interesting article in a publication called "This Day With Jesus." Entitled "It All Comes Down To Love," it is rendered as follows:

Hillel, the great Old Testament teacher, once took up a dare.  He claimed he could recite all of the wisdom of the Law of Moses while standing on one leg.  When challenged, he recited, "All the wisdom of the Torah consists in this:  Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and all thy strength, and thy neighbor as thyself."

A similar challenge had been given to Jesus long after Hillel.  When asked to name the great commandment in the Law, Jesus too used these quotes from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18.  As Jesus said, on these two statements--love to God and love to neighbor--depend the Law and the Prophets, all of God's revelation.

People today will have no problem with the Word of God--whether the Law (Ten Commandments) or the Gospel promises God spoke through the prophets and apostles--when they love God and their fellow human beings.  The entire religion God has revealed to us in Holy Scripture can be summed up not only in a single sentence that can be spoken while standing on one leg; it can be summed up in the one word LOVE.

Our love to God and to neighbor, however, is not spontaneous, not something that comes naturally.  It is God's gift.  It is a derivative of God's great love to us as demonstrated in the giving of His Son, Jesus Christ, for our salvation.  In response to that love, as created in us by the Holy Spirit in bringing us to the saving faith, we love God and all those whom He loves.  Then everything falls into place.  When we love God, we will gladly do the next thing:  keep His Commandments.

And there you have this article written by Brother Norden which I hope was a blessing to you today.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, in these last days in which we live.  Lord willing, tomorrow there will be another Daily Thought message for you.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul