I

like to ask students what they think Jesus means by “all your heart

and . . . soul and . . . mind.” At first they

usually look at me as if I have asked a really dumb question. Then

their looks change while I sit there in silence, and they wonder

where to start.

When

Jesus was asked to iden­tify the greatest command­ment, he

gave a very ­familiar answer. It was a part of Scrip­ture

that most of his listeners would have known by heart (see Deut.

6:4-9). Some, though, might have been surprised to hear this

described as “the greatest commandment.”

When

you think about it, what does it mean to “love the Lord your God

with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”?

And how about the second greatest command: “Love your neighbor as

yourself”? These cover everything in life, don’t they? And it is

one thing to say them, but quite another to live them out.

Yet

that’s what Jesus calls his followers to do: Love God with every

part of your being, and love your neighbor. And living that out in

every part of our lives—at work, at school, at the store, on the

road, with family and friends, with neighbors and strangers—doesn’t

have to be complicated. We can trust that God is with us every step

of the way to help and guide us.

Do

you hear Jesus’ call to live that way today—and every day?