Interesting laws have been written into the books in various places in our country:
In Gary, Indiana, it is illegal to ride a streetcar within four hours of eating garlic.
In Nebraska, it is illegal for tavern operators to sell beer unless they are simultaneously cooking soup.
In Waterloo, Nebraska, it is illegal for barbers to eat onions between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
In Corvallis, Oregon, it is illegal for young ladies to drink coffee after 6 in the evening.
In Lehigh, Nebraska, it is illegal to sell doughnut holes.
In Green, New York, it is illegal to eat peanuts and walk backwards on the sidewalk while a concert is happening.
In Lexington, Kentucky, it is illegal to carry an ice-cream cone in your pocket.
In Vermont, it is illegal to paint your horse.
And in Maryland, it is illegal for a woman to go through her husband’s pants while he sleeps.
One day, a “teacher of the law” asked Jesus a question about the laws of God: “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
To us, that may seem to be a strange question. Imagine asking a police officer or a judge, “What is the most important law for me to obey?”
The point of the question is not to find out what particular law one must obey to get into heaven. What he was trying to find out was what one command holds together all the
commands of God?
Jesus had an answer for him: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
As human beings, our greatest need is for relationship with God, so that’s where Jesus begins. Psalm 42:1 declares, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.” F.F. Bruce puts it this way, “The soul’s deepest thirst is for God Himself, who has made us so that we can never be satisfied without Him.” Our greatest need is for intimate relationship with God, so the first command calls us to love God with the whole of our being.
If we truly love God, and if God’s love truly lives in us, the second command flows logically from the first. If we love God, then we will love those whom God loves—and the Bible stresses that God loves everyone. When God’s love actually lives in us, then God’s love flows through us to others. 1 John 4:20-21 states, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”
When we love God with the whole of our being, we live into the heart of God; when we love others as we love ourselves, we live out the heart of God.
