NOW AND THEN I read something in the Bible that leaves me positively dumbstruck—such as those times someone allegedly speaking for God (in both the Old and New Testaments) summarizes exactly what God expects from folks.
Take Micah, for example. The prophet could have found plenty
to preach about in
“What does God really want from you?” Micah asks.
Then he answers his question straight out: “. . . to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly before your God” (Micah 6:6-8). The rabbis counted 613 specific commands from God which they eventually expanded into an encyclopedia-sized set of books known as the Talmud. Yet, according to Micah, God wants these three things most of all.
And what about Jesus himself? Asked to identify the “greatest” command, he did not specify baptism, or church attendance, or helping the poor. He didn’t even quote one of the Ten Commandments. Instead, he cut right to the core.
“Love the Lord your God,” said God’s own Son, “with all your
heart and soul and mind and strength” (Matthew
Not “obey” God, or “fear” God, or even “serve” God.
“Love” God.
And the second commandment (this is Jesus’ estimation, mind
you, not mine or some other sinner’s) is to love one’s neighbor as oneself
(Matthew
Even the Apostle Paul gets a word in on the subject. “Love
your neighbor,” he said, and that “fulfills the law” about neighbors (Romans
Obviously, the person who seeks to obey these core commands will find that they have enormous consequences and