"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."
Matthew 22:37-39
I have learned much about the kingdom of heaven in recent years. I love to think about it, apply it to my life, and look to the future when God will establish it on the earth. I have learned about the blessings that are found there. I know there is healing, restoration, and deliverance available. I know that the kingdom is within me and I am so thankful that the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in me. Yet, even with all of these beautiful truths, there is one that seems to supersede them all.
When I am honest with God and with myself, I return to two basic things, that when looked at closely, are really one in the same: I am to love the Lord with everything I have, and love others with zeal. It sounds easy enough, but it will be a lifetime journey to really fulfill these simple things. You see, the more I learn about the kingdom and the truths taught in the Word of God, the more I realize that these two most basic commandments far outweigh everything else. I must never stray from the course of loving God and loving people.
Sometimes, it is easy to get caught up in the 'deep things' of God and forget that the most basic things are the gates through which we enter into greater things in the kingdom. My friends, never lose track of the King of kings. We may get so caught up in the kingdom that we forget the King. That is a destructive mistake. I am convinced that above all other things, we must love God with a passion that is deeper than we can imagine. And we must have that same passion for people.
Jesus did not distinguish between 'sinners' and Christians when he gave the command. He simply said, "Love your neighbor as yourself." All people are loved by God and we are to love them as well. We need to spend as much time praying and thinking about our neighbors as we do ourselves. We must love them with the same intensity with which we love God.
Let me confess; I don't love God nearly as much as I desire, and I don't love my neighbors nearly enough. On my keyring that holds all the keys of the kingdom, there is one that is the master. It is the key of love. If I don't use that one, the others will surely fail me.
These are the greatest commandments: Love God and love people. It was true when Jesus said it, and it is still true. These are the greatest keys and we must use them always.
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