Gracious God, pour your blessings upon this person reading this; may they know of Your great love for them especially in all they face. In Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
As we continue our theme of being "Overhauled spiritually," please find Mark 12:28-34 and read what it says there about love and how an overhaul of love might be in order if your priorities are not right.
The passage from Mark 12 reads "28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" 29 Jesus answered, "The first is, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 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.' 31 The second is this, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." 32 Then the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that "he is one, and besides him there is no other'; 33 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 oneself,'—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." 34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." After that no one dared to ask him any question.
We can take love for granted at times. Sadly, we take the ones we love for granted thus the commandment to love. Jesus as He recited the teaching that had been His since childhood spoke of the need to make an effort to love the One worthy of our love, namely God. Loving God is something we should not take for granted. We seek to love God with all our emotions, with our spiritual being, all our thoughts, and with all our physical strength. And, Jesus continued, we should love ourselves in the way God intended, not a conceited self-serving love, but a caring sort of love that we should extend to others, especially our "neighbors" which we know are all of God's people. Is it easy? Of course not, but it is or should be our goal.
You and I have probably driven our share of vehicles that many have questioned how they managed to still be on the road, and from time to time we'll see those type of cars on the road and the reality is that many if not all of the parts within have to be replaced, with a complete re-doing of the engine being an overhaul. God does the same for us as we ask, especially when it comes to love.
Don't take love for granted. Ask God to overhaul your heart, soul, mind and body.
PRAYER: My prayer is for You to overhaul me completely. Let me be a person of love as You intended. Let me love You as I should and let me love myself in a caring way and may that be the way I love others. I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
