It is humbling to know that the entirety of the Law is wrapped up in two commands from God: to love the LORD with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Later, Jesus would say that we should love our neighbor as He loved us - raising the stakes, if you will.
At the same time, keeping the Father's commands is how we demonstrate our love for Him (John 14). And His commands, you see, are fully wrapped up in loving Him and loving each other.
Sadly, in many cases we are guilty of actually scorning those that God asks us to love - no, not those outside the kingdom, but those IN the kingdom! Often, this scorn is over issues elevated to an importance that does not exist in the Scripture.
Scorn for a brother or sister in Christ...!
Can we really afford to treat each other in ways we KNOW are sinful over issues that remain in constant and irreconcilable debate? Is that the goal of New Testament Christianity?
If we learn absolutely nothing else from our journey through the Old Testament, it should be clear that the only thing that is important to the Creator is the dedication of our hearts to Him - and Him alone. That, of course, is not just a verbal exercise, but is exemplified in a genuine and sincere service to the King and His kingdom.
Remember, even Jesus himself admitted that the hypocritical Pharisees knew the Law (Matthew 23:1). It was the condition of their hearts that earned the Lord's disdain.
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