Theme: THE GOLDEN RULE
Text: “And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” – Deuteronomy 10:12.
Comment: Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ emphasized the primacy of this law during his earthly ministry. In one of his encounters with the Scribes, one of them asked him: “Which is the first commandment of all?” Jesus Christ cited the text for today as the answer, only adding Leviticus 19:18, “And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” He stated that “there is none other commandment greater than these.” The Scribe agreed completely with the answer our Lord gave and stated that to love God wholeheartedly and one’s neighbour as oneself “is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices”. (Mark 12:28-34. See also Matthew 22:36-40) To love God Almighty with all our heart and soul is by supporting or contributing to His work with all what He had blessed us with spiritually, morally, financially and otherwise. A man’s love for God is called into question however, if he says he loves God but does not have kind feelings for his fellow man. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.” – 1 John 4:20, 21.