25 October: Matthew 22:34-46
Key Verse: Matthew 22:37
He said to him, ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
Devotion:
These have got to be some of the most over-used verses in the bible, but it is good to have a reminder about what Jesus was saying here because we often get too caught up in the academic side of religion and forget about the personal relationship we should have with Christ.
These verses are Jesus trying to get the people around him to forget about the rules and regulations which they had made up to try and get everyone to adhere to the way they wanted things to happen, and to move toward a life where they had mutual respect and love for one another instead.
If we base our lives on the love and respect Jesus wants us to have for each other, things would probably be a whole lot better for each of us!
Jesus also tried to get them to understand what it was God was trying to get them to follow: not a bunch of rules which were there to show them they could not keep them, but a new way a living together in love and hope and mercy.
Points to ponder:
Do you reach out to love when someone asks for help?
Or do you try to avoid them because of the rules someone else said you must keep...