Deuteronomy 6:1-25 NKJV
6 “Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10 “So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, 11 houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full— 12 then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 13 You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name. 14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you 15 (for the Lord your God is a jealous God among you), lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.
16 “You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted Him in Massah. 17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you. 18 And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the Lord swore to your fathers, 19 to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken.
20 “When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; 22 and the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. 23 Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers. 24 And the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. 25 Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.’
Verse 5 proclaims: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Jesus if found quoting this (and more) at Matthew 22:37. Johann Spangenberg (a Lutheran theologian at the time of the Reformation) expounds on this text.
“What does it mean to love God with all one’s heart? Ans: The heart is the beginning of all feeling, all senses and thoughts. Therefore this commandment calls for all our feelings, motivation, sense, and thinking to stand in God. He is the only God, and wants us completely or not at all. He cannot allow us to serve Him halfway nor the world halfway.
“What does it mean to love God with all one’s soul? Ans: The soul is the life of a man. Thus this commandment calls for us to love God our whole life long, not for a few years, months, days, but as long as we live, to the end, each and every day.
“What does it mean to love God with all one’s mind and all one’s powers? Ans: It means that we should love God with all our powers of body and soul and with all our senses outwardly and inwardly, with all our intellect and reason, with all our thoughts, words, and works. No created thing either in heaven or on earth should be so dear to us that we would esteem and love it more than God.” (The Christian Year of Grace, pg. 326)
And now the hard part… You know you do not do this! Instead, you get duped by the devil, the world and your sinful flesh; loving created things more than the Creator. Repent! Then be believing and give thanks to God, for the sending of Jesus Christ, your Savior, who with the Father, sends the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth — creating the desire to love God, and when not, then creating repentance and bringing you to flee, in faith, to Christ. And the Christian life continues.
Let us pray: O King of glory, Lord of hosts, uplifted in triumph far above all heavens, leave us not without consolation but send us the Spirit of truth whom You promised from the Father; for You live and reign with Him and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.