Mark 12:30

In Mark chapter 12, Jesus' teaching centered on loving God with a true heart. The religious leaders at that time, the Scribes (interpreters, teachers) were asking Jesus questions in an attempt to trap Him in a statement so as to invalidate Him, thus maintaining their positions of status amongst the people. Their hearts were far from God. They loved the respectful recognition they received from other men. (Mark 12:38-40 /Matt 6:1 and 6:5)

Among the questions the Scribes asked were, "What commandment is the foremost of all?" Jesus answered, The foremost is, "HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.' The second is this, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' "There is no other commandment greater than these." (12:28-31) When we love the One true God with all our heart, God becomes the center of our lives and is first in everything.

Jesus illustrated an example of this when the multitude was putting money into the church treasury and a woman put in a few pennies. Jesus said ... "Truly I say to you, this poor woman put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on." (Mark 12:43-44) Jesus is not teaching us to sell all that we have and give it to the church. He is teaching us to worship God first, not out of our surpluses, be they time, money, love or anything else.

In so doing, God will work within us to ...create in us a clean heart ...(Psalm 51:10) A heart that God is forming is a heart that enables us to " ...love your neighbor as yourself." That command is often referred to as the eleventh commandment or the golden rule. It is not a new commandment, but rather one that Jesus used to encompass the last six of the ten commandments. The first four commandments relate to our relationship with God, while the last six pertain to our relationship with each other.

Loving God with all our heart is part of the process that conforms us to the image of Christ. God sees the true motives of the heart. Therefore, let us not be like the Scribes that sought the glory of men, but rather let us magnify God's glory and "...love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength."

To God be the glory