God's Priorities

Suppose Jesus came to visit you today and you had the opportunity to talk to him.  What would you ask him?

Or imagine that God spoke to you in a booming voice from the heavens as you were sitting at your computer just now.  If God told you to do something, saying that it was more important than anything you had ever been asked to do before, would you do it?

As Christians, we want to know about God's will for our lives, and we want to understand God's priorities.  Sometimes we may think to ourselves, "If only I knew what God wanted me to do... but I don't know!"

You've probably read this passage many times before, and you've probably heard preachers mention it in sermons so often that you're sick of it.  In fact, I've used it on this blog before. But today, as you read it, think about how profound this is:  Jesus Christ is telling us exactly what God's top priorities are.

Mark 12:28-34 (NASB)One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, andrecognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, "What commandment is the foremost of all?" Jesus answered, "The foremost is, ' Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.'  The second is this, ' You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." The scribe said to Him, "Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that He is One, and there is no one else besides Him;   and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as himself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."  When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.

If these are God's #1 and #2 priorities, they should be ours as well.  Stop and think for a moment: have you been acting according to these priorities today, or has something else been more important to you?  If your words and actions this week were judged according to this standard, how would they hold up?  What can you change in your life, or commit to do in the future, to more accurately reflect these priorities?

How about this week?  Tonight?  Right now?