This past weekend we heard the words of Psalm 86:11
Teach me your way, O Lord,
and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
New International version
Tell me where you want me to go and I will go there.
May every fiber of my being unite in reverence to your name.
The Living Bible
Here we hear the psalmist David praying for God to give him an undivided heart, a single-hearted loyalty to his God. When he speaks of his heart he isn't referring only to his emotions, but to his whole being-body, mind and soul. Could it be that David is admitting that one part of his heart really does seek to love and put God at the center of his living while other parts of his heart seek other people, things and systems to be loyal to? Why else would he pray for an undivided heart unless he recognized how divided his heart really was.
About a thousand years later we will hear Jesus, raised in the Jewish faith echo the prayer of David when he is asked
"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.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
(Matthew 22:36-38)
The first verse which Jesus quotes is Deuteronomy 6:5. That verse is part of the Great Shema, the basic and essential creed of Judaism, the sentence with which every Jewish service still opens, and the first text every Jewish child commits to memory. It is the call to every human heart to love God above all else.
The second commandment which Jesus quotes comes from Leviticus 19:18. Here he teaches that it is our unreserved love for God that leads to the care of our neighbor.
It is wise to note in which order the commandments of Jesus come; it is to love God first, and love others second.
Why is that?
Because only God can change the human heart and make it more and more like the heart of God-which only seeks to love,uplift and heal. It is only when our hearts are solidly set on God that we can begin to do the transforming work of seeing every single created person as made in the image of God. Jesus clearly knows the truth about the human heart- only united to God can it love the way it was created to love- the way God loves.
For Reflection:
Why is Jesus so convinced that loving God with all your heart, soul and mind is the greatest commandment of all?
How does God's love move in and through you? What blocks that movement?
In what particular part of your heart are you most in need of God's tender care?
Take some time to draw or paint your own heart. How does it reflect the presence of the Holy One?
