Love God and your neighbor

New Guest: Like this one, most posts are devotional; those related to CAR BIZ can be found by searching for that title. You might read 'Welcome,' the first post, dated November 12, 2008, in the archives

Thursday, May 28, 2009
Devotions: Devotions: Ps 105; Ezek18:1-4, 19-32; Heb 7:18-28; Lk 10:25-37

Let us praise and sing glory to our God! Let the hearts of those who seek Him rejoice; let our minds reflect on His great kindness and mercy, His mighty deeds on our behalf. YHWH is our God, Judge of all the earth. He chose and protected the people of Israel; He preserved our free will, and kept His covenant always. He put His people in the land of Canaan; He shepherded them during their sojourn in Egypt, and brought them out with amazing acts of sovereign power—finally, putting to death every firstborn among the Egyptians. He kept them through forty years in the desert, with heaven’s bread, water from the rock, and quail delivered by the winds! Let all God’s people praise the Lord!

God had Ezekiel notify the land of Israel: ‘I have the souls of every person and every generation. And I will punish the individual who sins, not that person’s entire line. The determinant is obedience to My commands; the soul that sins shall die; the soul of the righteous shall be preserved and blessed. Repent, and I will forgive; transgress, and I will punish. I have no pleasure in death or punishment; My desire is that everyone would use their free will to choose to live in obedience to Me.’ God is holy and just; His law must be fulfilled: ‘Cast from you all transgressions; get a new heart and a new spirit—turn to Me, and live!’

In the New Covenant, God has set aside a former commandment, and introduced a better hope, based on the righteousness of Jesus, our eternal High Priest. He is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for us! He is holy, blameless, unstained, set apart, and exalted. He has no need for repeated sacrifices; He did this once for all, when He offered Himself; He is God’s perfect Son, ordained forever!

A lawyer interrogated Jesus: ‘Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus asked him his own interpretation of Torah; the lawyer replied, ‘Love God and your neighbor.’ Jesus said, ‘Right! Do this, and you will live.’ But the lawyer didn’t really want an answer; he was seeking to justify himself. So he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ In reply, Jesus told a story, about an Jewish traveler going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the road, the man was attacked by robbers, who stripped and beat him, and left him half dead along the roadside. First a priest and then a Levite approached and passed by the injured man, moving to the other side of the road from where he lay injured. Finally, a Samaritan came upon the man, had compassion on him, bound and dressed his wounds, put the man on his own steed, and carried the man to an inn, where the Samaritan cared for the man. The next day, he gave two days’ wages to the innkeeper, with instructions to take care of the man. ‘And if it costs more than this, I’ll repay you when I come back,’ the Samaritan told the innkeeper. Jesus then asked the lawyer, ‘Which of these three proved neighbor to the man who fell among thieves?’ The lawyer replied, ‘The one who showed mercy on him.’ And Jesus concluded: ‘Go and do likewise.’