Why Love Each Other?

Leviticus 23:16-22

17 From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the LORD.

22 " 'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.' "

Reflection of Bee:

Not only are we told to give our "firstfruits"to the Lord (v17), but also to leave some for those who lack (v22). This is the same principle found in Matthew 22:37-40:

37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
38This is the first and greatest commandment.
39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

As I searched to understand more on these two greatest commandments, I came across the article, Love Your Neighbor as Yourself, Part 1, which captured my attention so much that I read it in one breath. In summary it says,

"Love for God comes to visible manifestation when we love others. Or you could say, our love for God is "fulfilled" when we love others."

God's Word to Us This Morning

God's word for us this morning is that we take with tremendous seriousness this season of dealing with love at Bethlehem. That we let this picture stun us and remake our priorities. That we get alone with him and deal with him about these things. That we not assume that we fully know what love is or that it has the proper centrality in our lives. He is saying: All of Scripture, all of his plans for history, hang—HANG—on these two great purposes: that he be loved with all our heart, and that we love each other as we love ourselves.

(read part 2 here)

Dear Lord,
Thank You for making Your message so clear to me tonight on Your purposes in my life - to love You and others. Your love for me compels me to love others, which is my debt to pay. Thank You for giving me strength to show Your love in a way which at times hurts me for a while but in a long run will turn out good. I ask not for understanding nor praise, I ask not for gratitude nor reciprocation from my recipients. I only ask that they will know the magnitude of Your great love for us.
Praise You in Jesus' name. Amen.