“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
To a Jewish person, the first statement in this group of verses is called the "Shema" from the Hebrew word translated as "Hear". The Shema stresses God's oneness at a time when all other people groups around the Israelites practiced polytheism, or the worship of multiple gods. This is God's way of not only claiming His oneness in substance, but also that He is the only one worthy of worship. God created mankind to worship, and he knew that if man did not worship Him, he would worship something less worthy, leading to his ruin.
Following the Shema, God gives the greatest commandment in all of Judaism and Christianity, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all you strength.". This is the commandment in which Jesus quotes to the Pharisees when asked about the greatest commandment. Jesus went on to say the Law and the Prophets hung on these commandments. God calls us to etch this reality into our hearts and take it everywhere with us.
In essence, God wants our mind and heart to be focussed on Him. As we get up in the morning, as we go to sleep, as we sit around talking, He wants to be with us, involved in our lives. He wants our houses, families, and our future generations to be filled with His presence, his thoughts, and His words. If we do not have a mind in love with God and who He is, our mind will revert back to trivial things that hold no meaning and will not satisfy us. This goes back to the Shema. God is the only one worthy of our worship. He alone is worthy of our love and affections. If we devote ourselves to Him, He, in His righteousness and love, will take our love and distribute it according to His will.
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