I wonder what the difference is between the heart, soul, mind and strength? I wonder what the practical application of the heart, soul, mind and strength are.
I also wonder why we as humans really don’t give a toss about all this. And do so despite the fact that when God visited earth, He said that to love Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength is the greatest thing a human being can do.
“And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And 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.” Mark 12:28-30
He preempts this by declaring His unity with the Father and Spirit and then challenges us to focus on this fact with all that we are - from the four ways we can declare our allegiance to Him.
Heart - our emotions, our “gut feeling”, our passion and purpose
Soul - our thoughts, our being, our existence and collective being
Mind - our intellect, our thoughts, our reasoning and analysis
Strength - our might, our resolve, our determination and fight
Jesus is seeking in us a commitment far more then simply reciting the sinners prayer. He is asking us to consume Him from the pit of our existence - the core of who we are - our commitment to Him devouring our entire existence.
Wow! No wonder a lot of people simply resort to religion instead as religion is the easy way out. Then when they get burnt by religion they turn their back on Jesus and blame Him for something He never asked of them in the first place.
Instead Jesus asks for a 4 dimensional commitment to Him. Only in this mindset is it possible to ask, seek and knock and it will be given, you will find and the door will be opened.
I’m guilty of falling short of this commandment - big time! I’m kidding myself if I expect to see the abundant life Jesus promises to me based on my current devotion to Him.
I love the way Jesus’ words have the ability to strip all the pretence and crap we all stack up in our attempt to justify our actions and mindset. We do this to make us look good - to give us a veneer of righteousness we hide behind. Yet this veneer repulses God.
“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” Isa 64:6
Isaiah as referring to menstrual cloths as he penned that verse. I use this scripture to remind me that when I rely on my own righteousness, I am but a “walking tampon”. Sobering? You bet! Repulsive thought? Yeap - cause that’s what I am when I rely on my “goodness”.
Instead of relying on myself to be good, I am to look to Jesus and live a life characterised with a heart, soul, mind and strength which loves Him for who He is and for what He has done.
What you have said