Deuteronomy 6:4-5 Hear O’ Israel – the Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength.
These verses, in Judaism, are known as the Shema. Shema means more than hearing; it means, as Jesus often said, to hear and to do. These verses are the foundation of Jewish belief. Jesus declared that these verses are the greatest commandment of all: love God with the totality of your mind, with the absolute depth of your soul (all that causes us to be), and with every ounce of your strength. It is the greatest crescendo of human effort – that our “all” must be employed in loving and serving God. It is as inspiring as it is overwhelming.
When Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord, his hip was put out of joint. In that moment, Jacob became Israel. This past week, my hip was put out of joint as an artificial hip replaced my damaged one. I can relate to Jacob’s painful transformation. On day one, not only could I not run a marathon, I couldn’t even walk. On day two I began the first baby steps with crutches. Slowly as my strength increased, I was given more and more exercises to accomplish. My friends who have had a hip replacement all gave me the same advice: just faithfully do the exercises and you will be fine.
So here we are – changed, yet crippled. We are commanded to honor God with this epic crescendo of love. This love isn’t merely emotional or intellectual or physical: it is “all in” – nothing held back. This is the big one. Everything else rests on this love, yet the hip remains crippled. We have experienced the touch of God, yet we have ignored the important advice: “Faithfully do the exercises.” These are small steps. These are daily steps. These are deliberate steps. The world is quickly changing all around and we are ill prepared. We must not only be ready to walk, but to run. Now is the time that we must daily focus our minds on the Lord. We must daily present our emotional being to God. We must daily offer every ounce of our strength to our Master. Hear O’ Israel …