28One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
29"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'
Mark 12:28-30
Most of us are probably somewhat familiar with this passage. I was looking at it, and one of the things that dawned on me was the context of it. He is right smack in the midst of various interactions with the teachers of his day who were supposed to be those in the know when it came to God stuff. You can see that some had allowed their very motivations to become corrupt and others had simply bought into a fundamentally wrong understanding of God, and this was influencing the way in which they lived in a negative way to say the least.
In the midst of all this lack of true spiritual leadership, Jesus provides the little guys and gals of both his day and every generation after with a wonderful tool to use in our walk. He shines the light on our true north that our compasses must point toward. In the midst of trying to discern the right and true path to growth in Christ, we can remember to stop every now and then and look up at the unmistakeable landmark that "loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength," provides.
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