The teacher of the law who asked about the most important commandment was trying to test Jesus. He might even have been trying to trip Jesus up.

But in this classic teaching, Jesus identifies the power and primacy of loving the Lord our God as the most important thing we can ever do. Ironically, love cannot be commanded, but loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength gets at the whole purpose of all the commandments. This is a holy invitation to have our entire lives directed toward loving God.

Our hearts beat in rhythm with honoring God. Our hearts are aligned with the commandments, but not for the simple sake of keeping them. The purpose is to honor God.

Our souls, our eternal spirits, place God first in our lives. We can serve ourselves, but how much better it is to dedicate our lives to God!

Our minds think in ways to give the world the shape of things to come. Minds are creative and powerful, and in training them to glorify God in all we do, we can shape the world to act with more of the justice and goodness of God’s kingdom.

Our strength directs all our resources for God’s purposes. Our money, skills, relationships, influence, abilities, and so on are strongest when applied for the love and honor of God.