Hear, Love

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 53, Hear, Love.

Deuteronomy 6, verses 4 and 5. These are, perhaps, the most repeated words in the history of Israel: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

This passage is called the Shema — the Hebrew word for "hear" — and for more than three thousand years, generations of faithful Jews have recited it every morning and every night. It is not just any verse. It is the central confession of Israel's faith. And notice this carefully: before any command, before any law, before any rule of conduct, comes a truth about who God is. Ethics is born out of theology. You cannot live rightly without first knowing who it is you serve.

"The LORD is one." Think about the world in which these words were first spoken — a world crowded with competing gods, one god for rain, another for harvest, another for war, another for love. And in the middle of that crowd of deities, Israel stands up and declares something revolutionary: there is no division. There is no shared loyalty. The Lord is one — and therefore your heart must be one before Him too.

And then comes the command that flows straight out of that truth: love. Notice God doesn't stop at "obey" or "serve." He says: love. Because biblical faith, from the very beginning, was never merely a set of rules to keep. It was — and is — a relationship to be lived. God does not want subjects who follow orders with a distant heart. He wants children who love Him up close.

And look at how that love is described: with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. Three words, but one single person loving without holding anything back. It is not your heart on Sunday and your strength the rest of the week. It is not your soul in prayer and your heart somewhere else during work. It is the whole person, integrated, loving without division — because the God being loved is also one, without division.

And here's something you may already know, but it's worth remembering today: when Jesus was asked, centuries later, which was the greatest commandment in the whole Law, He didn't invent anything new. He went straight to these words. He quoted the Shema. Because everything Jesus taught — every parable, every miracle, every word about the Kingdom — is rooted right here. In complete, undivided love, toward a God who is also complete and undivided.

So today, before breakfast, I want you to do two things. First, declare the Shema out loud — not rushed, slowly, letting the words move through you. "The Lord is one. I will love Him with all my heart, all my soul, all my strength." And second: choose one concrete decision today that only makes sense if this is true — if God really is the one Lord of your life. Maybe it's turning down a temptation. Maybe it's putting time with Him ahead of work. Maybe it's trusting Him with an area you've been trying to control all on your own.

Hear. Love. Undivided.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.