Thoughts of Grace

Monterey

Good Morning,

For several weeks now I have been reading and re-reading,
pondering and re-pondering: Matthew 22:37-40.

37 Jesus said unto him,
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets.

I wanted to know what it meant to really love God.
I wanted to know if I really loved God with all my heart, soul and mind.
I referred to Clarke’s Concordance.
My first reading seemed to be Greek.
I broke it down to phrases.
I, at first, was condemned.
“No one can love that completely!”
But as I continue to read, searching myself,
asking God to search me.

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

To love God is becoming more clear.
Then it dawned on me one morning:
This is how God loves me!
I felt so utterly unworthy of that kind of love, God’s love.

For the next few days I’ll share with you what Clarke wrote;
any scriptures or comments I add will be in a different color ink.
I hope you will take a little time to read the thoughts slowly,
let the wonder of it sink into your heart,
begin to catch a glimpse of real love,
then draw nigh to God, as He draws nigh to you. (James 4:8)

from Clarke’s Commentary:

Matthew 22:37

Thou shalt love the Lord –
This is a subject of the greatest importance,
and should be well understood,
as our Lord shows that the whole of true religion
is comprised in thus loving God and our neighbor.
It may not be unnecessary
to inquire into the literal meaning of the word love.
Αγαπη, from αγαπαω, I love,
is supposed to be compounded
either of αγαν and ποιειν,
to act vehemently or intensely;
or, from αγειν κατα παν,
because love is always active,
and will act in every possible way;
for he who loves is,
with all his affection and desire,
carried forward to the beloved object,
in order to possess and enjoy it.
Some derive it from αγαν and παυεσθαι,
to be completely at rest, or,
to be intensely satisfied;
because he who loves is supremely contented with,
and rests completely satisfied in, that which he loves.
Others, from αγαν and παω,
because a person eagerly embraces,
and vigorously holds fast,
that which is the object of his love.
Lastly, others suppose it to be compounded of αγαω,
I admire, and παυομαι, I rest,
because that which a man loves intensely he rests in,
with fixed admiration and contemplation.
So that genuine love changes not,
but always abides steadily attached
to that which is loved.

Still pondering . . . Today
With my prayers, desiring yours, Leslie