Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday, August 1, 2024
This tree near my in-law’s house happened to be one of the larger trees on the trail and I snapped a picture. Maybe what made it stand out was how large it seemed relative to all the other trees in the picture. Sometimes we don’t notice how large a tree is because we just see the trunk. To take this shot I had to aim the camera way up.
There is a concept in the Bible that seems to stand out as especially significant. It seems so important that its meaning is something that people have been debating through the ages. That concept is love.
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:29-31
Jesus didn’t break love down into categories with many different meanings. Although people seem to want a breakdown and that is probably why we have the ten commandments. Love is hard to figure out, especially when it contrasts with our own selfishness. We might even be afraid of love.
Love takes intelligent thought. Let’s face up to what is most important and really try to understand love.