Daily Walk #4: The Greatest Commandment

Today’s Readings

Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34

Key Verse

He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love you neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

—Matthew 22:37-40

Today’s Reflections

L is for the way you look at me.

O is for the only one I see.

V is very, very extraordinary.

E is even more than anyone that you adore can.

Love is a simple little word with a whole lot of meaning behind it. Embedded within it is so much complexity, hope, healing, and more.

First John 4:7-8 says God is love, so it’s no surprise that the greatest commands He gave us center around that one four-letter word.

So here it is—the moment you’ve been waiting for. The greatest commands of all time—spoken by Jesus himself: 1) love God and 2) love people.

That’s it. Plain and simple. Every head bowed and every eye closed before the Lord. I’ll give the invitation now. Or not. Because it’s not that simple, is it? After thousands of years, we’re still flawed and therefore flummoxed by it.

Scripture says everything depends on these two commands. Everything. They’re packed with power. They’re rich and full. The commands are simple, but we make them more than complex. So let’s unpack it and go deeper.

What does it look like to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind (plus strength, per Mark’s version)?

It’s not just saying it with your mouth and following it up with a good deed. It’s committing your will, affections, and understanding to Him—your physical, emotional, and mental capacities—every fiber of your being.

It’s a passionate, fierce, unwavering allegiance to the Most High. It’s a promise to remain faithful when your circumstances lure you in the opposite direction. It’s trusting He knows best even when you don’t understand.

Like marriage, it’s for better or worse, for richer or poorer. It’s committing your life to Him in covenant and placing Him above all else—above your spouse, children, job, desires, stuff, status, relationships, culture, experiences, feelings, knowledge, everything.

But wait, there’s more. The second command is like the first: love people just like you love yourself.

Ewww. Yuck. Ouch. Uncomfortable. Who wants to do that in a self-saturated society like ours? It’s easier to just mind our own business. It’s easier to plug our headphones in and tune the world out. It’s easier to avoid eye contact and pretend we didn’t see them.

But it must be done because it’s important to Him. And what’s important to Him should be important to us.

All obedience begins with a fierce love for Jesus first. That means you put you aside. You take a step back in line and let Him lead. Then you take another step back and get out of the way so others can get closer and see Him clearly.

So there you have it. Love God. Love people. Simple enough, right?

Daily Walk #3: Being Good vs. Better

Today’s Readings

Luke 10:38-42

Key Verse

The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”

—Luke 10:41-42

Reflections 

Several years ago, if you’d looked up “church lady” in the dictionary, you would’ve found my picture next to the definition. But I came by it honestly. Thank you very much.

It was an easy pattern to fall into. Growing up, the ladies in my small-town church were busy little bees for Jesus, serving every day of the week, running to and fro. And I wanted so badly to impress Jesus with all my skills too.

Before I knew it, as an adult, I was in three Beth Moore Bible Studies, leading two high school girls small groups, cooking 50 meals for the sick each week, playing greeter on Sunday mornings, and offering myself up to be a martyr in a remote village in Africa.

OK…maybe that’s a little bit of an exaggeration. But that’s what it felt like!

Then I crashed and burned. It was bad—real bad. I was exhausted. I quit everything. I decided to simply sit at Jesus’ feet, soaking Him in, just BEING in His presence. And that changed my heart and life—just like it did Mary’s from today’s story.

Can’t you picture Martha? She was distracted by her tasks—trying to make everything PERFECT for Jesus. Giving Mary the evil-eye from the doorway, she frantically tried motioning her back into the kitchen. Then frazzled, she finally approached Jesus.

“Lord, I need help. I’ve got eight casseroles in the oven, the table needs to be set, the glasses haven’t been filled, and the bread still needs to bake. My hands are full. Don’t you care that Mary’s not helping me? Tell her to get up off her behind and DO something!”

And what did classic, kind, gentle-hearted Jesus say? (Love this man so much.) “Martha, chill out. You’re getting all worked up over nothing when only one thing truly matters—ME. What Mary’s doing is right and good. Don’t take that away from her.”

First things first, here me say this: serving the Lord isn’t wrong. Let me repeat it: serving the Lord isn’t wrong. One more time for good measure: serving the Lord isn’t wrong.

Second, Jesus didn’t condemn Martha. He appreciated her warm hospitality and kindness. However, He was firm-but-gentle when He spoke, pointing out something that was good and something that was even better.

Martha wanted to give Jesus her TIME. Mary wanted to give Jesus her HEART.

Life is obviously busy for all of us—and the world tells us to live in that mode. But Jesus says, “Stop. Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Sweet relief, right? Do it! You know you want to.

Serving Him is good. Sitting at His feet is way better.

Daily Walk #2: Baptism

Scripture Passage:

Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-23

Key Verse:

Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him to be baptized.

—Matthew 3:15

Reflections:

My daddy is a preacher. That means I was your typical PK growing up. I had 47 sets of parents and/or grandparents (all who had permission to discipline me when needed) and 94 eyes watching my every move at all times.

That also means I got all the perks of being a PK. You know, getting into the communion grape juice when I shouldn’t have, running full-speed and yelling through the halls of the church after hours, and—my personal favorite—helping my dad fill the baptistery on Saturday evenings.

I was a pro at baptizing because I’d seen my dad do it so much. I mean, I dunked my little brother in the public swimming pool every summer no less than 723 times each year—all in the name of “the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

As an adult, some of my dad’s best ministry stories include that which happened during baptisms. Like the time he put a woman under the water and when she came back up, her wig was floating on the surface. Or the time when he immersed a very large woman and, even with the help of a deacon, it took 15 minutes to get her back up.

My favorite story was when he went to fill the baptistery one Saturday night and realized someone must have just done the deed, but the plug in the bottom had come out. To stop it from draining, he shucked every stitch of clothing he had on, climbed into the weighters, and dove in to stop it.

Just as he was coming up out of the water, he heard something move in the darkened sanctuary. He stepped out and ran smack dab into one of the little old ladies who’d come to get her Sunday School lesson for the next morning.

I’ll never forget what my dad said about that day: “There I was, with nothing between me and glory but those weighters.”

I laugh thinking about those stories, but one thing I always noticed about baptisms was that my dad made sure they happened at the beginning of each service. It was a focal point in worship, a celebration, a chance to witness someone literally following in the footsteps of Jesus.

Back in the day, John was reluctant to baptize Jesus because of His sinless nature. But Jesus had to complete this step in order for “all righteousness” to be complete, so He could identify with the people He came to save (see 2 Corinthians 5:21).

As a result, throughout the gospels, we see that God publicly declared Jesus’ Sonship and His delight in Him because of His obedience in baptism. And that’s why He’s the example we’re to follow.

When you dig deep into baptism you come out with the Greek word baptizo, which literally means “to make clean with water; to immerse; to overwhelm; to identify with.” No—water doesn’t save. Jesus does. But being baptized symbolizes what’s happened in your heart through salvation, and it brings about your righteousness through Him.

I like how Pastor Mike says it best: “If you want to be like Jesus, you walk like He walks, talk like He talks, think like He thinks, do what He does.”

Daily Walk #1: I want to be like Mary

Back in January, I got asked to join in with a team of writers at my church to provide daily devotionals for our congregation who are currently reading through the Bible in a year. 

I know, I know...I'm already the "paid" writer and editor at Brentwood Baptist. But it's not often I get to write in my voice and own it. So I'm passing along on this blog the ones I've written so far...

Scripture Passage:

Luke 1:26-38

Key Verse:

“I am the Lord’s slave,” said Mary. “May it be done to me according to your word.”

—Luke 1:38

Reflections:

Let’s just set the record straight. If an angel of the Lord had approached me—like he did Mary—with even so much as a “hello” or “how’s it going?” I would’ve thought I’d lost all my marbles.

So I love that, in the beginning of this passage, Luke (the ever accurate doctor) describes Mary’s initial reaction to the angels greeting as “deeply troubled by this statement.” Ha. Nice one, Brother Luke. Way to play that one down.

Moving on, had said angel informed me I was now pregnant and would soon give birth to the Son of God, the One who was sent to save all of mankind, I would’ve royally freaked out.

What will my parents think? What will my betrothed think? What will my community think? What will my church family think? Why me? Why now? What in the world?!

Good thing it was Mary and not me.

She was favored. She sensed the reality and weight of this task nearly immediately. And she didn’t ask 99 questions, require a signed contract, and demand an explanation from the Most High—like I usually do when He asks me to do something.

And wasn’t that nice of the angel to assure her of the miracle-next-door happening with Cousin Elizabeth? “For nothing is impossible with God.” That was the cherry on top of it all. It was the equals sign to the crazy equation he’d just laid out.

But this is where this passage gets me every time. Without hesitation, Mary willingly went along with His plan, even though she risked being stoned to death or shunned for what looked like the scandal of the millennium.

She was a very special 15-year-old. She didn’t nag or complain. She wasn’t worried about whether or not her skinny jeans would fit into the seventh month of her pregnancy. There was no wavering of faith or calling the angel a “creeper.”

Mary simply replied, “OK, Lord. Done. I belong to You, so whatever you ask, I’ll do it.”

That’s the kind of trust and obedience I want in my relationship with Jesus. Don’t you?