Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Matthew 22:37-39

Devotion

What do you get someone who already has everything they want? This is the question I wrestle with every Christmas as I try to decide what I should get for my parents. They usually buy what they want and can afford a nicer version than I can. At some point, I figured out the best gifts come from what I know about them and the things I know are meaningful to them. I don’t just wrestle with this question in regards to my parents; it’s also a question I have wrestled with in my relationship with our Heavenly Father. What could the God of the universe possibly want from me? He is the Creator of the universe. The winds and the seas listen to his command. What is it God desires from me? 

I wrestled with and struggled to answer this question for a long time. Growing up, my understanding of what God desired from me was tied to what I could do for him. My perception was that God desired results from me, and I was only loved when providing the results he desired. I was doing all the right things but for the wrong reasons. I had more in common with the Pharisees than I did with the disciples. It wasn’t until I heard a lesson taught about Matthew 9:13 that I began to understand what it is that God truly desires from me. 

In Matthew 9, Jesus has just called Matthew to follow him and is breaking bread with Matthew and his friends. The Pharisees demand to know why Jesus is eating with “those” people. Jesus responds by quoting Scripture from the Old Testament in Hosea 6:6. This isn’t the last time Jesus quotes this passage to the Pharisees either. Jesus asks them to understand what this verse truly means when it says,

“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
    and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” 

The book of Hosea, a collection of writings by the prophet Hosea, is a warning and rebuke for the nation of Israel. What Israel was doing is summed up pretty well in Hosea 4:1 (ESV). 

Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
   for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
   and no knowledge of God in the land.”  

The word used for knowledge here implies more than just intellectual knowledge, but relational knowledge. For instance, I have a lot of knowledge about one of my all-time favorite baseball players, Nolan Ryan. I can tell you he holds the record for most no-hits (7), one-hit (12), and two-hit games (18). I can tell you he holds the record and is the only player to throw 5,000+ strikeouts. My parents like to tell me I was named after Nolan Ryan, so you could say I know a thing or two about him. For all that I can tell you about his career, I could not tell you the first thing about Nolan Ryan the person. I do not know what it is like to work with him, talk with him, or have a conversation with him. I have a lot of knowledge about his baseball career, but no knowledge of who he truly is. 

Hosea is exclaiming the same thing to the Israelites. He’s saying, “You know so much about our God, YHWH, but you can’t tell me the first thing about what it is he desires from you. You make the sacrifices, you say the right things, but your heart is nowhere near the Lord” (Ryan Jackson paraphrase). In his response, Jesus is calling out the same thing in the Pharisees. He is saying, if you knew my father, you would know what this means: “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Jesus is trying to get to the Pharisees, ito understand God does not desire robots who just follow the letter of the law. He does not desire people to go through the motions in an attempt to appease him. 

The Hebrew word used in this passage for “mercy” is the word hesed. It’s an incredibly powerful and beautiful word used all over the Old Testament to describe God's covenant love for Israel and for us. It’s not just a deep love that is felt, but it is stirred to action. Jesus is the ultimate example of God’s hesed for us. 

This brings us back to the question we all wrestle with at some point: what is it God desires from me? He desires our hesed. He desires our steadfast love, not a love that leads us only to know about God. He desires our loving-kindness toward him. 

Also, hesed is not just related to God’s love for us or our love for him. It also describes our love for each other. God desires that we have steadfast love, loving-kindness, and loving mercy for each other. He desires that we love each other so deeply we can not help but be moved to action. 

The Pharisees were so wrapped up in following the letter of the law they could not see what it was truly all about. Jesus sums it up pretty well in Matthew 22:37-39 (NLT): 

 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 

PRAYER

Lord, thank you for your love that never fails. Forgive me for the times I've focused on doing for you instead of truly knowing you. Help me love you with all my heart, and show mercy, kindness, and love to others as you have shown to me. Teach me to love deeply, not out of duty, but out of a heart transformed by your grace. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Ryan Jackson
Crossings Kids Pastor 56 - OKC

Resources

• Read The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard.
• Listen to Who You Say I Am by Hillsong Worship.

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