The Upper Room Daily Devotional from The United Methodist Church of Nashville, Tennessee, United States for Friday, 24 November 2017 "The Greatest
Commandment" by Alex Heck (North Carolina) - Matthew 22:34-40
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DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2017
Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:39 (NRSV))
In November 2015, our varsity football team had just suffered a tough, season-ending loss in the playoffs. We felt beaten up and demoralized. When we got back to the team hotel, multiple TVs were reporting on bombings in Paris and displaying awful images of the damage. For me this was a lesson on what is really important in life.
In the days following, I kept hearing people talk about refusing to admit Syrian refugees to the U.S. As my mom and I were talking about this one night, she said that if I wanted to follow the teachings of Jesus, I needed to be able to love people who were not easy to love. She opened her Bible to Matthew 22 and read these words: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (NIV).
I noticed that the passage did not qualify who our neighbors are. As tough as it may be, if we want to truly follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, we can’t turn our backs on refugees fleeing the horrors of the Syrian war or any other conflict.
In November 2015, our varsity football team had just suffered a tough, season-ending loss in the playoffs. We felt beaten up and demoralized. When we got back to the team hotel, multiple TVs were reporting on bombings in Paris and displaying awful images of the damage. For me this was a lesson on what is really important in life.
In the days following, I kept hearing people talk about refusing to admit Syrian refugees to the U.S. As my mom and I were talking about this one night, she said that if I wanted to follow the teachings of Jesus, I needed to be able to love people who were not easy to love. She opened her Bible to Matthew 22 and read these words: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (NIV).
I noticed that the passage did not qualify who our neighbors are. As tough as it may be, if we want to truly follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, we can’t turn our backs on refugees fleeing the horrors of the Syrian war or any other conflict.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
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Matthew 22:34 but when the P’rushim learned that he had silenced the Tz’dukim, they got together, 35 and one of them who was a Torah expert asked a sh’eilah to trap him: 36 “Rabbi, which of the mitzvot in the Torah is the most important?” 37 He told him, “‘You are to love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’[Matthew 22:37 Deuteronomy 6:5] 38 This is the greatest and most important mitzvah. 39 And a second is similar to it, ‘You are to love your neighbor as yourself.’[Matthew 22:39 Leviticus 19:18] 40 All of the Torah and the Prophets are dependent on these two mitzvot.”
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Showing Christ’s love means never turning our backs on those in need.
Those fleeing their country for safety
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Header Photo Credit: "Harvested Land," Beth Shumate. August 15, 2014. (link)
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