For three years, the religious leaders had been stalking Jesus and questioning Him relentlessly. Finally, as the end drew near, a theologian tested Him by asking, “Which is the greatest commandment?”

Rather than choosing one of the Ten Commandments, Jesus answered with words from Deuteronomy 6:5, part of the traditional Jewish confession of faith, called the “Shema.” He said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

Jesus refused to be boxed in by small-talking religious lawyers. He refused to argue inside the “Mosaic box” by pitting one law against another. Instead, he pointed the Pharisee to a commandment that every pious Jew quoted daily in the Shema. Love God with everything that is in you!

But Jesus didn’t stop there. He gave them the second greatest commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

In twenty-four words Jesus summed up the whole obligation, the whole objective of men and women. The heart of the matter, he explained, is having a heart for God and people. Forget theology. Just decide each day to love and serve the Creator and His creation.