He Loved Him

Counting blessings during the night goes back a long, long way. I’m certain David was not the first to consider:

How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. (Psalms 139:17-18 KJV)

The first and greatest blessing, to me, is His love. Oh, we all know that John 3:16 verse that tells us how much God loved the world, but there is a much more personal love. Much as David understood God’s thoughts toward him. God loves us, each and every one.

What does that mean to our lives? A rich man knelt in front of Christ and asked:

And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? (Mark 10:17 KJV)

Jesus gave him answers he already knew:

Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. (Mark 10:19-20 KJV)

Did you really pay attention to Jesus’ answer? Did you miss the first three commandments? Where are the two He said were the basis for all the law and prophets:

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 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. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:36-40 KJV)

Why was not this same answer given to the kneeling young man? We know that Jesus loved him, the Bible tells us so:

Then Jesus beholding him loved him,

Yet the answer Jesus gave speaks not of loving God with all one’s heart – but the thought is there as Jesus:

… said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. (Mark 10:21 KJV)

This young man came to Christ for the answers and thought he knew what they would be. We are all not told to sell what we have, but this one young man was:

And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. (Mark 10:22 KJV)

If our treasures are not in heaven, do we love the Lord our God with all our heart?