Deuteronomy 6:5 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. I. THE COMMAND. 1. None will dispute for a moment God's right to the affection of all His creatures. Surrounded as we are by the amazing proofs of God's love to us, hourly as we are the recipients of His bounty, it is to the lasting disgrace of every member of the human family that such a command as this should be needed. 2. But will the mere command produce love? No, it will not. The severest injunctions, the most formidable threatenings, are insufficient to produce love in the human heart. The penalties attached to disobedience may excite a slavish fear, but they cannot excite love. A child does not love its parent because commanded to do so; it may obey that parent by the outward act, but to excite love something more is needed than a command. And that something more is found in the affectionate kindness and watchful care of the parent, and this it is which, shown in a thousand varied ways, calls forth the love and affection of the child. If I want my neighbour to love me, it is not by merely expressing the wish for it that I shall gain his affection, but by embracing every opportunity for the exercise of benevolent feelings towards him. And thus it is that the love of God will be awakened within the heart of any one of us. And therefore, in exhorting you to obey the command, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God," we should set before you those dealings of God towards you which are calculated to kindle in your breasts the emotions of love. II. ITS EXTENT. What is the degree of love which God demands? 1. It must be supreme — with all the heart. You are to love God not as you love your friends, your relatives, your children, but above, all things. He will allow no rival to share with Him the throne of your heart's affections. Not even any lawful affection must be set above that which we give to God, much less the love of sin or of the world. 2. It must be an intelligent love — with all the soul or understanding. By this you will have a clear perception of why you love God, and of the many motives which should excite you to give Him your heart's undivided affections. The thoughtful Christian will see the reasonableness of the adoration he pays to God. 3. It must be also a strong and fervent love — "with all thy might" — a love deeply rooted in the heart, and so closely intertwined with all your thoughts and feelings as to defy the power either of sin or Satan to tear it from your breast. (R. Allen, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. |
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