Morning Devotions – From the Edges – Surrender and Love

From the Edges – Morning Devotion
LENT – Day 36 – Surrender and Love
Scripture focus Mark 12:28-31 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

This remembrance of this day in the life of Jesus to the sacrificial love that was shown to us through his death and resurrection is available for your reading in –
Matthew 21:23-24, Mark 11:27-13:37- Luke 20:1-21:36.

Jesus is in Jerusalem back in the Temple, Jesus engages in intense debates with religious leaders, teaching in parables and explaining prophecies about the kingdom of God and the end times. The examples of these teachings especially from Mark’s Gospel should be astounding and even convicting to us, hopefully very convicting.
After Jesus teaching in Mark about The Parable of the Ten Tenants, Paying Taxes to Caesar, and answering some questions about Resurrection the religious leaders try to turn attention to the commandments. There was a hope of finally trapping Jesus to prove the lies they had conjured up.

The question is asked “which commandment is the greatest of all?” Reading into Jesus’s response changed the course and should chart ours today. The response is found in this morning’s scripture focus – “to love the Lord our God, with all our soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Is this impossible? More than likely it takes a place not at the top of our list but down further behind everything that we have replaced our relationship with God with. Have we learned that God’s love is just not on Sunday mornings, or when in trouble, but should be our number one priority in all that we do. Are we there yet?

Jesus goes on to speak about the second greatest commandment as “loving your neighbor as yourself”. I know we are not there yet. If we were we would be showing some general care for others, not just in doing but in pointing them to Jesus. Not just in feeding the hungry but in feeding the soul, finding, and loving God reflects everything to God – Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Are we trying to find more time to give to God? What do we need to take out of our schedule so we can experience more time with God, in worship, in service, in holy friendship. What do we need to do in our finances so we can offer more to the ministries that are Kingdom focused. What do we need to do in alone sabbath time with, first make time, and second become completely immersed in all that God is doing and saying.

We are called to love through surrender. It’s tough to surrender, it is tough to let go, I certainly realize that I am trying with all my heart, and I am praying that you can as well.