Daily Devotional with Dr. Duane Brooks
August 7, 2017
Matthew 22:37-39
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
New International Version (NIV)
                Roller skaters know the answer to life.  Remember the song, "You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around:  that's what it's all about."   As a former roller skater I find this disconcerting.  That silly song can't be what it is all about.
                When the religious leaders asked Jesus to sum it up, "What is the greatest commandment?" he answered with two.  Remembering the ancient Shema, Jesus said, "Lord the Lord your God . . ."  Which is most important:  heart, soul, mind or strength?  Actually the important word is "all."  What if we loved God whole-heartedly, with our whole minds and our whole hearts and our whole souls?
                The second is similar:  from Leviticus (and his heart), Jesus reminded us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.    Someone will surely say, "This means we need to love ourselves more."  Most of us do pretty well at looking out for ourselves.  Our neighbors present the greater challenge.  This is especially true because in the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus defined a neighbor as one who helps others in need regardless of their origin.   Someday as we stand before the Lord he will ask us if we loved the people who were very different from us.  How will we answer?  Love God.  Love your neighbor.  That's what it's all about.
 Pray with me:
God you embody and define love.  Teach us to love the way you do.  Let us love God with all we are and have today.  Let us love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.
I want to invite you to join me in memorizing 52 passages this year from the 2017 set of Fighter Verses.  You can find the Fighter Verses App at the App Store on your phones or via this link  http://fighterverses.com/the-verses/fighter-verses/.  As we study the Bible this year, let's look at each text and learn what it says about God. 
Joyfully, 
Duane 
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