Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
March 5, 2022: SOAP #4475:  Deuteronomy 1-2; Mark 12

  (reworked SOAP from 2011)

SCRIPTURE:  Mark (NIV) 12:28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

OBSERVATION: Here is a question that had probably been asked since just after the commandments were given to Moses.  Surely this “teacher of the Law” had heard this question debated many times.  Which of the Ten Commandments is most important?  If I can only keep one, which one should it be?  Which one should I be most careful not to break?

The difference is that now it is being asked of One Who could give an authoritative answer!   The answers received from others could be considered and debated, but the answer received from Jesus must be accepted and applied

APPLICATION: Since I claim to be a Christian—a follower of Jesus, the answer Jesus gave should be the bottom line for my life.    Not only should I set myself to do nothing that would make God doubt my love for Him, but I should also set myself to know Him better so that I may better know how to love Him—with the passion of my heart, with the choices of my will, with the intelligence of my mind, and with the actions of my strength. 

PRAYER:  Lord, may my love for you be well known in heaven and here on earth.  Amen. 

Pastor Leon
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