How would you sum up how to live your faith?
If someone new to faith in Christ asked you how to live out their new faith, what would you tell them?
Would you tell them that they need to go to worship?
...to pray regularly?
...to read their Bible?
...to give to those in need?
...or something else?
There are 613 commandments in the Old Testament - I haven't counted them, but I'll trust my OT professors from seminary on that fact. Teachers of the law - pharisees, saducees, and others - memorized each one and "helped" people keep each of the levitical laws so as to be in alignment with the will of God. 613 that ranged from "Thou shalt not kill" to how to properly prepare your dinner.
One day, while he was teaching, a local lawyer came to Jesus and asked him which of the 613 commandments was the greatest. Is it one of the big ten? Is is about how we worship, pray, give, or live?
The perfect commandment is that we should love. "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 12:29-30, NIV, emphasis mine). That is to say that God is more concerned with who we are and what our motivation is. If we love God and we love others, our lives and our daily actions will reflect that - and the 613 regulations for life become tools to aid us in our attempts at Godly love.
Primal will hit the bookshelves on December 22nd and if you've read In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day or Wild Goose Chase, this new book stacks up with the other two - no question. Many of you know that In a Pit is one of my favorites and has been foundational for me when it comes to ministry approaches.
Primal is based on the Greatest Commandment: "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 12:29-30). What does it mean to love God, not just in some wishy washy, feel-good way, but in the truest, deepest sense.
Obedience to the greatest commandment is real commitment. It's the mark of a living faith and if we can regain our focus on these four ways of loving God, everything else just becomes trimmings. We forget that sometimes and get caught up in trying to "earn our way into heaven" or be perfect or have all the right beliefs - and when we lose focus, we do so at our own peril. Truly, we can do God's work and still forfeit our own souls.
Mark does a fantastic job of helping us explore what it means to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. The facts he shares and the stories he tells are captivating and leave you with a new appreciation for what true, godly love is. When was the last time you tried to define how you love God with all your soul? Batterson might be able to help make a few things come together for you personally.
Do this: when you get some cash or a gift card for Christmas this year, spend some of it on this book. If you're pastor, read this one as soon as you can get it. It's an easy read, but also one that has the potential to give a great deal of focus to the rest of your year.
I plan to spend part of January and February sharing the message of Primal from the pulpit and with my staff and leadership. Thanks to the people at WaterBrook Multnomah and Mark Batterson for giving me the opportunity not only to preview this book, but to be one of the first to promote it.
Order your copy at one of these sellers:
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1 comments:
sounds like it could be a good book. thanks.
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