Bible in Four Words

The Bible can be complicated sometimes.  There are so many books, chapters, verses, characters, instructions, and places!  How can we keep it all straight?  Does God really expect us to remember all that?  Thankfully, Luke records a conversation that Jesus had with an ‘expert’ in religious law.  Jesus asked the man what the law of Moses said.  He asked the man ‘how he read it’. 

Here was the reply:

The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” – Luke 10:27-28

This guy distilled the message of the Bible into four words: love God, love others.  Is there more to it than that?  Well, there are obviously lots of details, but if we reduce all of those details down to their most basic elements, we are left with two things: love God and love others.

For me, this is a necessary reminder and one that is pretty darn easy to remember.  Love God and love others.

• When I’m trying to figure out how to spend my time: love God and love others.
• When I’m trying to figure out how to spend my money: love God and love others.
• When I’m trying to figure out how to raise my kids: love God and love others.
• When I’m trying to figure out how to interact with people I don’t like or agree with: love God and love others.
• When I’m trying to figure out how to choose what TV show or movie to watch: love God and love others.
• Etc, etc., etc.

But what does it look like to love God?  Do we have a picture of what it looks like to love others?  Of course we do!  Jesus paints a VERY clear picture of both, which will be the subject of the next two posts!