I drive a 1990 Plymouth Laser. It’s a nice little sports car with a strong engine. It can go fast. I’ve had it for about 8 years. I’ve put about 10 or 11 alternators on it in that length of time. (I know!) The first time I replaced it, the job took about 6 hours. (Have I told you how much I hate working on cars?) Now, I can take it off and replace it in an hour. I know the procedure very well. I like, enjoy and am grateful for my car despite the problems that come my way because I own it.

In the prayer before his crucifixion, Jesus said, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent,” (John 17:3). During the course of my life, I’ve met a few famous people, but I really don’t know any of them. We don’t hang out. They don’t come over for dinner or invite me on their vacations.Knowing God is not only something we can do, it’s something we’re supposed to do. Yes, its work. It does take time. There is real effort required. Relationships must be cultivated. Do you have any friends that you really like, but they never call you? You are always the one who calls. And they’re always glad to hear from you, but you’re not on their list of people to call and connect with. Do you suppose that God feels that way about you? Is He the one who is “waiting by the phone?” Sometimes I think we treat God like the words of a country song I heard about, “If your phone ain’t ringin, its me.” Tell me… How are we ever going to know God if we won’t invest the time and effort required? The more we know him, the deeper will be our understanding and our love for him. This is what he seeks.Jesus said that the greatest commandment is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).

During the summer when I was 15 I got very sick. Due to a severe frontal sinus infection, I was having severe headaches and was unable to keep food down. I lost a lot of weight and was very weak. It was the first time that I had ever been really sick in my life. The Dr. prescribed some strong meds and I eventually began to feel better. I don’t know when it happened, but one morning I woke up and realized that I was well…healthy.According to E. Stanley Jones, holiness is “spiritual health.” The Hebrews writer said, “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord,” (Hebrews 12:14).In our walk with God, there is too much attention given to spiritual sickness, that is to say, the presence and power of sin in our lives. Will redeemed people ever stop saying things like, “We’re all sinners” and “We all fail everyday.” Nonsense! We who are in Christ are the redeemed children of God. We have a testimony to demonstrate to the world, to our enemy and to our selves that we are forgiven, saved, and adopted into the family of God. We have received the indwelling Holy Spirit so that we might live holy lives and that we might love the Lord with a healthy soul. So enough already with the talk of sin and its power.

Over the next four weeks, I’m going to do a series of articles that speak to the “Greatest Command.” I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard a sermon or lesson that attempts to put feet on this passage. We all know the passage, but to express the meaning of it is difficult. I’m not saying I’ve figured it all out, but I think I’ve learned something that might help us have a better handle on understanding it and more to the point, doing it.“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30

Jackson Browne wrote a song called Sky Blue and Black. It’s a song about a failed relationship. The guy knows he blew it, but there is no undoing the damage. But he offers this statement.

If you ever need holding
Call my name, I’ll be there
If you ever need holding
And no holding back,
I’ll see you through
Sky blue and black

This is the cry of a man who lost real love. He and wants her to know that if he ever gets another chance, he’ll be different. He says, “If you ever need holding and no holding back.” This is the key to loving with all your heart. The love Jesus is talking about is an undivided, no holding back love. The love that a grandma feels when she hugs so tight you feel you might pass out. It’s the love that a child demonstrates when they want to kiss you over and over again.

To love the Lord with all your heart is to love him with a pure or “undivided” heart. The undivided heart is not torn between the old life of sin and the new life of redemption. It does not look back with nostalgia, to those days that were, and thus nullify the future. It does not regret the life of ministry with a yearning for the secular. To love the Lord with all your heart is to love him with no holding back, beyond your old life and your old way of living.

telemicus out