ALL Means All

One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” [Mark 12.28-31]

In recent weeks I have become more aware that Jesus' calling upon the lives of His followers is not a partial calling. Although many only follow Him part-time, His calling is full-time.

Jesus' call for His followers to forsake all and follow Him is not unlike the passage above in that we are to love God with ALL our heart, ALL our soul, ALL our mind, and ALL our strength. In fact, comparing Jesus' "forsake all" call upon His disciples to the ALL response above is very much a revelation of Jesus being God in the flesh!

Jesus effectively declared that the 1st Commandment is the most important commandment in that God is the one and only Lord.

You must not have any other god but me. [Exodus 20.3]

The only way to be assured we have no other God but the LORD is for Him to have ALL our heart, ALL our soul, ALL our mind, and ALL our strength. Anything that captures our heart, soul, mind, or strength, besides Him, is effectively another god in our life (in violation of the 1st Commandment), and therefore, an idol (in violation of the 2nd Commandment).

The continuity of 1) Jesus' demand that His followers "forsake all to follow Him," 2) His claims to be the Son of God, and 3) His declaration of what is the most important commandment, is both remarkable and completely consistent!

Not outside the remarkable continuity and consistency mentioned above is Jesus' simple command regarding how we should live:

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. [Matthew 6.33]

In context of all Jesus taught, if we give precedence to any of our needs, we have effectively given heart, soul, mind, or strength to another god (self). The implications of this are not good as culture has slowly but surely shifted people's focus onto "self" instead of God. In this culture of self-preservation, Jesus' call to "forsake all" sounds like a death wish... To refuse to give precedence to modern man's way of science, medicine, and finance is downright foolish, not to mention culturally unacceptable. But...

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24]

Jesus' call upon the lives of His followers is indeed a death wish, but it is NOT foolish! But then, why is it so severe? Because the only thing that pleases God is our undivided faith in Him. Our undivided faith in God alone is our holiness. Undivided faith is ALL our heart, ALL our soul, ALL our mind, and ALL our strength. For man to trust in himself, family, his job, possessions or any of the world's systems to any degree is idolatry and therefore unholy. 

Jesus' call on our lives is not to make us miserable, but to save us! Death to self ("take up your cross") is the only way to resurrection life in and with Christ.

ALL means all!

Father, to write (or read) what is said here without conviction is devastating. May my life instead humbly reflect faith that is ALL my heart, ALL my soul, ALL my mind, and ALL my strength. May I be seen by You as one who has forsaken ALL in order to give You ALL.