The Greatest Commandment

I don't know. I've read the ten commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai hundreds of times. I've had them memorized since I was an early teen.

1-son "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" - we need to love the Lord with all our heart
2-zoo "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" - in today's world, this isn't necessarily statues, but replacing God with other idols, like money, material possessions, ideas, or prestige

*if you want to see the rest of my silly helpful memory tricks for the 10 commandments scroll down to the bottom

But even though I've been very familiar with them, and they seem like common sense now, yesterday the words just really struck out to me, especially when Jesus is talking in Mark 12:28-30

"And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord they God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment."

I still remember being in a seminary class and our teacher talking about the word 'all.' What does 'all' mean? 100% is what they had us write in our scriptures. When we are taught to have no other Gods before God, that means our hearts and minds need to be on the Lord, and not other things.  Sure, we can have other interests, but I think on Sundays, the day the Lord specifically asks us to set aside for Him, those other interests need to be placed aside.

I've always considered it a burden I don't have real interests. When you introduce yourself and they say, tell us something you love to do... I think... and I struggle coming up with things... spending time with my husband... going on family vacations... all my answers seem boring unlike other people that are full force fans of...whatever. But some days I see it as a real blessing. When I hear people talk about hunting season and that everything else in their life disappears I think, blegh. Their wives understand, they have their agreement, we won't see you for that month, or few months, or sometimes the wives get in on the action. Or people that are really into sports and say during basketball season, forget trying to get my husband to do anything.

So sure I've always thought of it as a blessing that my husband didn't neglect me. Because remember, that is one of my favorite things. :) I don't like to be placed 2nd to anything else. I like to always be the most important thing in his life. But just yesterday I thought... we're told our God is a jealous God. He doesn't like to be placed 2nd either. So that commandment is much harder for some people to keep and I feel for them. Because I just hear the emphasis, we can't put anything above God. Do we love hunting more than God on a Sunday in September? (is that during deer season? :) Or do we love God more than a Sunday in the beginning of February? I mean, do we have that same passion for our Heavenly Father as we do for other things in our lives? Love God with all our heart, and with all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength. That really is asking a lot more than what I've ever thought of. He should be what we love more than anything.

So yeah, I'm lucky in the fact I can't think of anything that would happen on a Sunday that would tempt me to put it above God. The closest you could get is if Disneyland called me and said, "Jill, this Sunday we are letting you and your family in free and it won't be crowded." haha, but honestly I still think, 'No, I couldn't go and enjoy it.' That's just the way I am. But just because I don't have something that fights for 'all my heart' I hear those words and think, I certainly could be doing better. It isn't just on Sunday. That is a commandment for always. I feel like I don't love God with all my heart. I want to have that burning all-encompassing drive, and that is a little hard for me because I feel like I've never had that passion. If I knew what it was like to really love baseball, then maybe I could work towards getting that same feeling for my Heavenly Father. Anyway, now I'm starting to ramble, but I consider it a challenge. And a challenge I am accepting. I want to have something in my life I am really passionate about, and I want that something to be my testimony of Jesus and Heavenly Father. :) After all, it is the first and greatest commandment.


Now for my 10 commandment word rhymes -

3- tree - (it has leaves, which has veins) - don't take the name of God in vain
4- door - (it has a keyhole) - keep the sabbath day holy
5 - hive - (beehives think of queen bee) - honor thy father and mother
6 - sticks - don't murder (with sticks as your weapon)
7 - heaven - don't commit adultery (can't get to heaven if you do)
8 - gate - don't steal (think of a gate protecting something, don't break in)
9 - line - don't bear false witness (it sounds like lying, but also a telephone line, don't spread gossip)
10 - hen - don't covet (your neighbor's chicken! we'd always say chicken instead of hen and laugh, I don't know why :)

They may sound dumb and not make any sense, but when you tell yourself them they don't leave. At least, it only took once to implant in my brain. :)